Property of the Russian Federation, it is recognized as a national monument of France, and it currently belongs to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

In 1864, immediately after the railway reached Nice, Tsar Alexander II visited by train and was attracted by the pleasant climate.

After 1917, Communist persecution of religion in Russia led some Russian Orthodox dioceses abroad to form jurisdictions not affiliated with Moscow.

On 20 January 2010, a French Court (the Tribunal of First Instance at Nice) ruled that the title to the cathedral should be held by the Russian state.

The Russian state, which in 2010 was recognised by the French court as the legal owner, decided in 2011 to turn the church building over to the Moscow Patriarchate.