In the 18th century, on a picturesque bend of the Neva River, opposite Okhta, there was a tar factory that initially supplied its products to the Swedish fortress Nienshants, and later to the Saint Petersburg Admiralty. Near this place, by the order of Tsar Peter Alekseevich in 1720, a country Smolny Palace was built, intended for the summer residence of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Petrovna. During the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna, she lived here in the so-called "Smolny House," under the constant supervision of Biron himself.

After Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1741, the Smolny Palace was left empty. The Empress preferred to live in the Winter Palace and only occasionally visited the place where she had spent her youth. After the fire of 1744, which destroyed the main building of the Summer Palace, Elizabeth decided to rebuild it and turn it into a shelter for poor orphaned girls.

There is also a legend that in the fourth year of her reign, the devout Empress decided to abdicate in favor of her nephew, Grand Duke Peter Fyodorovich, who had already been declared heir to the throne. Elizabeth Petrovna planned to build a monastery and retire from the world. But she did not want to part with the capital, the creation of her great father. Therefore, the monastery was to be built on the banks of the Neva. It was hard to find a better place than the Smolny Palace for this purpose.

In October 1748, she announced to Archbishop Simeon, a member of the Synod, that she wished to build a magnificent monastery on the site of the Smolny Palace, where she would spend her final days in peace and quiet. The future royal abbess was to be surrounded by 120 noble maidens. Each was to have a separate apartment with a servant’s room, a pantry, and a kitchen. And a separate house for herself as their future abbess. It was decreed to build an unprecedentedly beautiful and magnificent monastery—a monument to the prosperous reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The preparation of plans, facades, and estimates was entrusted to the court chief architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli.

The solemn ceremony of laying the cathedral’s foundation took place on October 30, 1748. Archbishop Simeon served a prayer service in the Church of the Horse Guards and, in the presence of the Empress, walked with crosses around the "tar house," laying the foundation for the new monastery, named after its cathedral church—the Resurrection Novodevichy Monastery. The builder was appointed brigadier Yakov Andreevich Mordvinov, to whom the Empress granted Ingermanland lands belonging to General Ulyan Senyavin, the village of Versilka with its lands and peasants, as well as unused lands along the Lava and Kavralka rivers.

From 1749, as Rastrelli’s assistant, the construction of the Smolny Cathedral was supervised by Christian Knobel. By 1751, all preparatory work and foundations were completed, and the construction of the cathedral itself began. The construction was carried out on an unprecedented scale, with generous and regular funding from the treasury. Thousands of soldiers and craftsmen were conscripted to drive piles for the foundation and lay the walls. Up to 2,000 soldiers from the Petersburg and Kronstadt garrisons, as well as 1,500 craftsmen from the Yaroslavl and Kostroma provinces, worked daily on the construction of the Smolny Cathedral "for a wage of three kopecks a day." "Architectural apprentice" Danilo Matveev controlled the quality and accepted building materials produced at factories on the Neva, Syas, Olonets, and the Urals.

The cathedral’s plan has a slightly elongated basilica layout (due to the entrance vestibule) and three naves, overall approaching a "Greek cross," inscribed in a similar "Greek cross" quadrangle of the monastery walls with corner domed chapels at the corners.

The cathedral is built in the style of lavish Elizabethan Baroque, painted in a light, soft blue color, with domes in gray (originally, the entire painting was supposed to be gray with white and abundant gilding).

In the cathedral project, Rastrelli proceeded from the idea of a centralized temple, which has long traditions in Christian architecture of both East and West. The closest analogue is said to be the Protestant Frauenkirche in Dresden. However, the Empress demanded a traditional Russian Orthodox church with five domes, which the master fulfilled, as can be seen in the wooden model kept at the Museum of the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg.

Rastrelli did not merely fulfill the devout Empress’s demand; he deeply absorbed the traditions of ancient Russian art. During the design process, he found a bold solution: he placed the side bell towers almost flush with the central dome. Rastrelli was not deterred by the structural drawbacks: the towers, set at an angle to the central drum, awkwardly join, and the drum’s windows, intended to illuminate the space under the dome, are partially obscured. Thanks to this bold approach, the architect created a unified image with powerful dynamics. Rastrelli played this composition with Baroque pilasters—bundled columns and articulated cornices. It is no coincidence that the contrapuntal principle of form-making in this masterpiece by Rastrelli is compared to Bach’s fugues. Thus, the typically Baroque idea merged with the traditions of ancient Russian art.

The cathedral reaches a height of 93.7 meters. The four-tier bell tower was planned already in the first project version. In 1750, the bell tower project was changed according to the wishes of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who indicated as a model the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in Moscow, built in the 16th century by architect Bon Fryazin. The architect added one tier to the bell tower, changed its completion to resemble the model, and found a new volumetric-spatial solution (a central pillar and two flanking towers). During the design process on the model, the bell tower project was revised again: it became six-tiered, the proportions of the side towers and the top changed. The height of the bell tower increased—from the 147 meters planned in the 1750 drawings, the model’s height is 166 meters.

The first tier of the bell tower was to serve as a triumphal arch—the main entrance to the monastery; the second tier was to be the gate church, and the next three tiers were to house the belfries. The crowning pillar acquired more elongated proportions. The side towers of the bell tower were reduced in height. The height of the first tier would exceed the height of the monastery buildings; its walls were reinforced by four supports on the sides of the central passage to the monastery grounds, and the entrance was to be decorated with a huge broken onion-shaped pediment with a lush bas-relief. The second, church tier was planned to be equally powerful. The third tier was higher and lighter than the lower ones; it was to be flanked by gilded domes, cupolas, and crosses of the gate church, rising above the corner churches of the monastery. By reducing the wall thickness and the number of columns, the fourth and fifth tiers were visually lightened. The fourth tier would appear more proportional from the ground than when viewed on the model.

Excavation work for the bell tower’s foundation pit was completed by the end of 1751. By the end of 1753, the ground was prepared, and all piles (10,539 pieces) were driven. Construction of the bell tower continued until 1767, and its first tier was erected. At this stage, construction was halted. The unfinished building was apparently adapted for a Swiss guardhouse and sentry post. A passage to the monastery grounds was arranged in it, but it was later dismantled. Construction of the bell tower was mainly stopped due to the redistribution of funding within the total amount allocated for the monastery, the Institute for Noble Maidens, and the School for Bourgeois Girls. In 1767, construction of the bell tower stopped, and in the same year, work began on building the School for Bourgeois Girls according to the project of Yury Felten.

If built, the bell tower would have surpassed the height of the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral bell tower by 18 meters and could have become the tallest building in Europe. The bell tower was to be crowned with a small tower with three round windows and a cupola with a cross. It was later dismantled. During archaeological excavations in the 2000s at the presumed site of the bell tower, a foundation of a substantial building was found about 4 meters deep. Under the granite base, about 10,000 piles of bog oak were driven. This discovery became the first real confirmation of the start of Rastrelli’s bell tower construction. Many researchers explain the halt by the depletion of the state treasury due to the Seven Years’ War. However, all other buildings of the ensemble (seemingly less significant) were built by Rastrelli, and construction of the bell tower was suspended already in 1756, before Russia entered the Seven Years’ War in August 1757.

Noticing a structural imperfection in the cathedral project model, Rastrelli corrected it. The architectural and structural solutions Rastrelli chose differ noticeably from those presented in the model. However, this concerns the cathedral itself, not the bell tower.

The cathedral was built very quickly; church utensils were already being prepared, bells were cast in Moscow, and Rastrelli made iconostasis designs. However, with the start of the Seven Years’ War with Prussia, construction slowed due to insufficient funding. Under Elizabeth Petrovna, the Resurrection Cathedral was completed without any decoration, in rough form. After Elizabeth Petrovna’s death, work gradually stopped. From 1762, after Rastrelli’s departure to Italy, Yury Felten was appointed chief architect of the Smolny Cathedral. Due to lack of funds for the school building, the cathedral’s interior decoration was not completed. It was finally decided not to build the bell tower on the already prepared foundations. The cathedral’s facade was plastered by stone craftsman Erkom Kazaspra. Models of decorations for the church domes were made by sculptor Francesco Re. Models of sculptural decorations for the cathedral facades, based on Rastrelli’s drawings, were executed by P. Tseg. Their installation was completed in 1768. The cathedral remained unfinished for almost 70 years, and its condition steadily worsened. Cracks in the vaults threatened collapse, and the high basements were flooded with water.

In the late 1820s, by order of Nicholas I, work began on the final completion of the temple. In March 1828, Minister of Internal Affairs Count Vasily Lanskoy announced a competition for the design of the Smolny Cathedral’s decoration. Four years later, Emperor Nicholas I ordered the completion of the Smolny Cathedral according to a revised project by Vasily Stasov. Priority was given to important stonework to repair the building: cracks in walls, vaults, and arches were sealed, damaged bricks replaced. Basements were cleared of water and debris. Roof damage was repaired. The dome and cupolas were covered with white zinc iron. The cathedral facades were painted yellow; the temple and corner church domes were painted azure with gilded stars, according to Nicholas I’s wishes. In addition to the eight old bells that "served as chimes" in the monastery’s small churches, twelve new ones were cast. In January 1832, a full-scale wooden model of the iconostasis was installed in the cathedral "for accurate consideration and effect." "With great difficulty," as Stasov later recalled, pipes for stoves were drilled through the walls—the cathedral was built "cold" according to Rastrelli’s project. Floors were paved with Revel tiles; marble steps and platforms for altars were made at Yekaterinburg factories. Doors and window frames were made of larch; cast-iron choir stalls with grilles were installed. Walls were plastered and painted white; columns and pilaster bases were clad with white artificial marble. All work was completed in three years, and the cathedral was finished in 1835.

Overall, the Smolny Monastery ensemble was not completed. Many decorative details are missing, and interiors were also unfinished. However, even architects who do not revere the Baroque style acknowledged the merit of F. B. Rastrelli’s creation. According to legend, architect Giacomo Quarenghi, a representative of Catherine’s Classicism of the subsequent era, despite his uncompromising character and open hostility toward Rastrelli’s work, would stop in front of the main entrance to the Smolny Cathedral, turn to face it, take off his hat, and exclaim enthusiastically and respectfully: "Ecco una chiesa!" ("Now that’s a church!").

On July 20, 1835, Metropolitan Seraphim of Novgorod and Saint Petersburg consecrated the temple. The northern chapel was consecrated in the name of Saint Righteous Elizabeth, in memory of the monastery’s founder, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna; the southern chapel was consecrated in the name of Saint Mary Magdalene, in memory of Empress Maria Fyodorovna.

According to the "Regulation on the Cathedral" approved by Emperor Nicholas I in 1835, the temple received the status of the cathedral of all educational institutions in memory of the emperor’s mother, the patroness of youth, Empress Maria Fyodorovna. On its altar wall, the names of all schools and institutes under the Department of Empress Maria Fyodorovna’s Institutions were inscribed in golden letters, and all pupils and students gathered annually in the temple for solemn prayer services and worship.

The cathedral was funded from the State Treasury and was attached to the Department of Empress Maria’s Institutions; it was assigned a parish from the residents of the nearby district.

For almost 90 years, regular services were held in the temple. The day of Saint Mary Magdalene, Equal to the Apostles—July 22 (August 4, new style)—was marked by especially solemn services, when the imperial family visited the temple, and heads and students of women’s educational institutions in the city gathered, including the first higher women’s educational institution in Russia, founded in 1764 in the monastery buildings surrounding the cathedral—the Educational Society of Noble Maidens.

After the 1917 revolution, the temple came under the control of the church’s twenty-member council. On October 7, 1922, the Petrograd Soviet decided to close the cathedral. Requests from believers to return the temple were not granted, and in 1923 the Smolny Cathedral was closed. On April 20, 1922, a year before the decision to close the cathedral, all church property was removed from it.

After closure, the cathedral was used as a storage for decorations. A bunker was opened in the cathedral’s basements, which during the Great Patriotic War was used by Andrei Zhdanov. Later, the bunker was equipped with anti-atomic protection.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the cathedral still retained a partially destroyed iconostasis, fragments of the pulpit, and the Tsar’s place. In 1967, reconstruction of the cathedral began, after which it housed the exhibition of the Museum of the History of Leningrad "Leningrad Today and Tomorrow," telling about the city’s current achievements and development prospects. The cathedral’s iconostasis was dismantled only in 1972, when the country celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s formation.

In 1990, a concert and exhibition hall was opened in the cathedral. In July 2001, during a hurricane, a six-meter gilded cross fell from the cathedral’s central dome; it was struck by lightning, its base cracked, and the cross pierced the roof. On April 12, 2004, the cross was restored to its place after restoration.

In the summer of 2004, the Smolny Cathedral became part of the State Museum-Monument "Isaac’s Cathedral," which included, besides Isaac’s and Smolny Cathedrals, also the Sampsonievsky Cathedral on the Vyborg side and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (Church of the Savior on Blood). Choral music concerts were held in the Smolny Cathedral by the cathedral’s own choir, the Academic Choir of Singing Enthusiasts at the State Academic Choral Chapel of Saint Petersburg, and others. Light and projection equipment, including a small modern organ, were purchased and installed. Access to the observation deck with a view of the city on the upper tier of the building was opened.

On May 24, 2009, Bishop Ambrose of Gatchina served the first prayer service in the Smolny Cathedral after a long break, and from 2010, regular services have been held in the Smolny Cathedral. In 2010, chairs were removed from the right, Elizabethan chapel of the cathedral, and a temporary iconostasis was installed there. On April 7, 2010, on the Feast of the Annunciation, after 87 years, the Divine Liturgy was held in the temple. The liturgy was served by Metropolitan Vladimir (Kotlyarov) of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga. The Kazan Cathedral of Saint Petersburg donated an ancient altar for services. By this day, the altar image of the Mother of God—a copy of a painting by Alexey Venetsianov, kept in the State Russian Museum—was restored. After this, services in the Elizabethan chapel of the cathedral began to be held regularly on Sundays.

In 2013, a 10-ton bell was consecrated near the cathedral, cast at the "Vera" company (Anisimov V. N. Bell Foundry) in Voronezh. The bell is decorated with iconographic images, and the names of the main universities of Saint Petersburg are cast in the lower part of the bell.

To this day, numerologists are fascinated by the magic of the numbers of the Smolny Cathedral: it was built for 87 years, served as an active cathedral for 87 years, and stood closed for 87 years under Soviet rule.

In 2015, a final decision was made to transfer the Smolny Cathedral to the Russian Orthodox Church. On January 25, 2016, on the day of Saint Martyr Tatiana, the Smolny Cathedral was handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church. On this day, Bishop Ambrose of Peterhof, rector of the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy, served the Divine Liturgy in the Smolny Cathedral. Before the Liturgy, Archbishop Ambrose performed the rite of minor consecration of the temple. The head of the administration of the Governor of Saint Petersburg, Alexander Govorunov, handed over to Archbishop Ambrose of Peterhof and the rector of the Smolny Cathedral, Archpriest Peter Mukhin, a historical relic of the 18th century—the key to the cathedral’s western gates. At the moment of the solemn act, the director of the museum-reserve "Isaac’s Cathedral," N. V. Burov, addressed those gathered:

"On the one hundred and sixty-first Tatiana’s day, we must hand over the key to the western gates of the Smolny Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Once the city entrusted us with the care of this great house, and now we hand the key over to the city, and the city—to the diocese, and the diocese—to the parish of this remarkable cathedral."

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolny_Cathedral

https://www.dp.ru/a/2020/07/29/Dokopalis_do_Smolnogo

https://smolnyspb.ru/articles/the-bell-tower-of-the-smolny-monastery