[4] In 2013, the Patriarch of Russia, with Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev and his spouse attending, conducted the ceremony of grand reconsecration in the now fully restored cathedral.

[8] In 1896 admiral Pavel Tyrtov, director of the Imperial Russian Navy Ministry, started preparations to build a cathedral in Kronstadt in earnest.

[10] Antony Tomishko, author of Kresty prison, won this contest by presenting a Russian Revival draft following Konstantin Thon's Russo-Byzantine tradition.

[17] However, the newly appointed commander of Kronstadt base admiral Stepan Makarov found Tomishko’s draft too weak artistically and too small for the purpose.

The process of this choice remains undocumented, however, Kosyakov had worked for the Navy before as the architect of church of Our Lady the Merciful in Saint Petersburg.

Kosyakov, still in his twenties, had perfected the optimal proportions of a single-dome, four-apse Byzantine design; his 1888–1891 drafts of a church in Astrakhan (itself based on Our Lady the Merciful) were reused all over the Empire.

Another likely version links the change to direct influence of professor Nikolay Sultanov, Kosyakov's teacher at the Institution of Civil Engineers, leader of Russian Revival school.

[18] By 1903, Kosyakov brothers produced a complete album containing nearly a thousand graphic sheets detailing the structure, exterior and internal design of yet unbuilt cathedral.

Vasily Kosyakov’s layout also demonstrates influence of Romanesque architecture, notably in the twin belltowers by the sides of the main portal — an extremely uncommon feature in Russian practice.

Earthwork and work on concrete foundations and a granite base continued through 1902; the walls were laid in a massive ceremony 8 May 1903, with the Emperor in attendance.

[13][20] Despite social unrest that culminated in the Russian Revolution of 1905, the cathedral was structurally complete in 1907; heating and ventilation were operational in 1908, enabling year-round work on the finishes.

The four portals were decorated with mosaic images of Theotokos, Saint Nicholas, Peter, Paul, John of Rila and Mitrofan of Voronezh by Foma Raylian.

One bell, weighing 4,726 kilograms (second largest) remained in place — either due to technical difficulties or deliberately, as an emergency alarm signal.

Internal marble items, including the iconostasis and the memorial boards with names of the fallen seamen, were ripped out, broken or cut and reused for ordinary construction needs.

Reduction of military personnel in the 1960s made the concert hall redundant; in 1980 the cathedral reopened as a branch of the Central Museum of Navy.

The second attempt, in 2002, employed a heavy helicopter and nearly ended in a disaster: the seven-meter cross fell from the dome and was damaged beyond repair; there were no human injuries.

[citation needed] In 2023, Ukrainian intelligence services alleged that the cathedral now functions as the headquarters of a private military company, funded by and closely linked to the Russian Orthodox Church.