According to legend and historic facts, the baptism of Vladimir the Great took place in 988 in the Chersonese (or, as it was called by the Rus' people, Korsun), now – Chersonesos Taurica, a National Reserve near Sevastopol.

The idea to immortalize the place of the Baptism of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles was first represented in 1825 by the Black Sea Fleet Chief, Vice-Admiral Alexey Greig.

In 1850, on the initiative of Innocent, archbishop of Tauric Chersonese, a cenobium was founded at the site, the Monastery of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles.

It was not completed in time for this significant date, so on June 13, 1888, on the Memorial Day of Grand Prince St. Vladimir, only the lower church, dedicated to the Birth of Mary, was consecrated.

Furthermore, in the interior of the cathedral works executed in the 1850s by academician T. Neff, painter F. Riss, and icons made by I. Maikov and E. Sorokin were also used.

As far back as 1859, the marble reliquary in the form of a Gospel[dubious – discuss] with relics of Grand Prince St. Vladimir was passed from the Small Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to Chersonese.

The list from the miracle-working Korsun icon of the Mother of God, which, according to legend, was brought from Chersonese by Vladimir the Great, is situated at the altar of the upper church.