Construction on the first and foremost Orthodox temple in the Chernomorsky Borough began in 1874, but would take 16 years due to financial constraints. Stones for the new church were taken from the walls of Alexandria Fort, which was the first edifice built in what was to become the town of Sochi. The ruins of the fort are only a few yards away from the church.

The architect, Aleksander Kaminsky, designed the snow-white church in a cruciform shape with an elongated front arm. The arms of the “cross” of the building have vaulted roofs, and the dome is in the middle. Sochi’s main Orthodox Church is 25 meters long and 17m wide, its belfry is 34m tall.

The church was converted to a granary in the 1930s, but reopened for services during the Great Patriotic War. Its nearly 1.5-century history and two renovations notwithstanding, the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel, who is worshipped as Sochi’s guardian saint, today looks almost exactly the same as it looked when the very first service was officiated here.