The five-domed building, which stands 75 meters tall, is a notable example of the Russian Neo-Byzantine architecture.

The Orthodox congregation resumed services in the upper church in 1942, after the Communists had been ousted from the Don Region by the Wehrmacht.

[4] The Starocherkassk and Novocherkassk cathedrals are considered the main spiritual centres of the Don Cossackdom.

Matvey Platov, Vasily Orlov-Denisov, Yakov Baklanov, and other atamans of the Don Cossack Host are buried in the church.

A bronze statue of Yermak, the conqueror of Siberia, in front of the porch was designed by Mikhail Mikeshin.