The church was built as part of the southern extension from the Holy Trinity Cathedral, creating a symmetrical effect.

The church became a popular site for burials of leading churchmen, Georgian royalty, and other elite members of Saint Petersburg society.

[1] From 1806 the lower church was the site of burials of Georgian princes, and those of important members of Saint Petersburg society.

[1] On 5 October 1889 the metropolitan approved a suggestion by the Spiritual Council to construct an extension to the church to allow further burials.

This was built to a design by Grigory I. Karpov, and contained 167 spaces in its burial vault, with a two-tier iconostasis.

[1] The remains of Metropolitans Isidore and Palladiy were transferred to the Nikolskoe Cemetery, while the rest of the graves were destroyed.

[2] Novices from the monastery established metalworking, carpentry and jewelry workshops in the Feodorovskaya wing, supporting a major restoration of the church.

[2] On 18 June 2017, the feast day of Feodor of Yaroslav, the Bishop of Kronstadt Nazariy and the monastery monks performed the first prayer service after the church's restoration.

[2] The grave of Yakov Rostovtsev, one of the architects of the Emancipation reform of 1861, was re-discovered in the lower church during restoration works.