The workers in the area required a place of worship, so the community began to raise money for it, the first major contributor was Matfei Kenin, captain of the Port Rowing.

In 1887, the church project was approved, to be led by Vasily Kosyakov (lead architect) and Dmitry Prussak (Russian: Дмитрий Константинович Пруссак).

On the church site, a wooden chapel was constructed, and in it was placed an icon of Our Lady the Merciful, brought from Athos, Greece.

[1] In the autumn of 1892, the roof was installed, with the iron needed for it donated by philanthropist Countess Nadezhda Stenbock-Fermor [ru].

When the church opened, a charitable society was formed, which worked with the local children's shelter, an almshouse, and an orphan school.

[2] In June 1932 the church was closed by the Soviet regime and ownership transferred to a naval submarine diving training group.