The Cathedral of Our Christ the Savior is the biggest Russian Orthodox Church in the country, which can accommodate up to 10000 people at the same time. It is located not far from the Kremlin on the left bank of the Moskva-river. The present building was erected in the 1990's on the site of the former cathedral, constructed in the 19th century. On the walls of the former cathedral there were inscribed names of the officers of the Russian army, who died during the war with Napoleon in 1812.The construction of the first cathedral lasted 44 years and the church was consecrated in May of 1883. The cathedral was destroyed in December of 1931. It was planned to build the Palace of Congresses on the site of the cathedral, but because of the war it was delayed. After the war the place was empty till 1958. At the end of the 1950's the local authorities decided to create a swimming pool there, which had existed till the 1990's.

In 1992 the fund for reconstruction of the Cathedral was established and the works were started in 1994. The church was opened to the public in 2000. The first service took place on Christamas Eve, on January 6th (Russsian Orthodox Christmas). The cathedral was officially consecrated in August of 2000.