Cathedral-monument in honor of Christ - Saviour of Russia from french invasion - was built upon the vote of Emperor Alexander I. The project by A. Vitberg won the international contest of 1814, in which also took part A. Voronikhin, G. Quarenghi, V. Stasov and others. The laying of the foundation stone of a church happened on the 12 December 1817 on the Sparrow hills between two roads - to Smolensk and Kaluga. But this project of grand classical forms have never been realized - on the order of the Senate of 11 may 1827 the construction was stopped.
The second contest of 1829 didn't give a desired result. In 1830 Nicholas II devolved the engineering of the cathedral to K. Thon. The architect could have join the idea of the cathedral to its form and to the location - territory of the Alekseev convent in the most harmonious way. In 1837 a commission was appointed, construction started in a year.
Construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour became an outstanding act for Moscow: its architecture laid a clear borderline between two ages of Moscow architecture - vanishing classicism in its form of Empire style after the Fire of 1812 and rising of Russian style designed to renovate the historical centre of Moscow.
In the project K. Thon used the type of a traditional five-domed cathedral with a characteristic vault roofing, going up to Byzantine forms. Also the architect completes it with elements associated only to Moscow prototypes of the XV-XVI centuries. These are ogee gable form, arcaded frieze of the first storey and roundabout gallery, encircling the main volume of the cathedral, repeating the Greek cross plan, which was transformed in a museum of the War of 1812 from a traditional open arcade. If the symbolism of forms of the non-realized project by Vitberg laid on Christianity, project by Thon declares in a major and distinctive way the theme of a national cathedral-monument, cathedral-museum voted cathedral built in a place sanctified by usage - in the centre of Moscow near the ancient Kremlin.
The massive cubiform volume of the cathedral, which vastness was conditioned by its neighbourship to Kremlin, has got the unique design of all four facades: they differ only by themes of sculptural decoration. From outside facades are decorated with 48 reliefs by A. Loganovsky, N. Ramazanov, P. Klodt. Reliefs of doorways are made after models by F. Tolstoy.
The internal decoration of cathedral was made upon a new project. After Thon retired, architects A. Rezanov and L. Dal took charge of construction. They turned to a traditional belt scheme of Old Russian cathedral painting by subordinating it to the proportions of architectural division and abandoning order elements of decoration typical for classicism. Narrative compositions were filling in the ornamental framings based on forms, lines and contours meant for painting of wall surface. Different kinds of marble and decorative painting were used for the ornamental division of the cathedral's walls. Narrative compositions about the life of Christ on Earth, placed above the choir level were made by painters A. Markov, I. Kramskoy (main dome), P. Bassin and N. Koshelev (central drum, vaults of small cupolas), F. Bruni and P. Sorokin (squinches and choir galleries), V. Vereshagin (exedras in the base of four pylons) as well as G. Semiradsky, V. Fartussov, V. Makovsky and others.
Iconostasis is a unique composition in form of a marble octagonal chapel crowned with a gilt bronze tent. It was situated on the axis of the main entrance in the eastern part of the main cross of the cathedral. Its height with the tent was 26,6 meters. Almost all the icons of the Sanctuary doors and of the four levels of the iconostasis were painted by T. Neff. The chapel served as iconostasis and ciborium at the same time.
The main volume of the cathedral was encircled with a two level gallery. There was a museum on the lower one. There were 177 stone plates on its walls with facts about the main acts of war of 1812 graved on then. Their also were carved Imperial Edicts, rescripts and eternized the names of warriors - defenders of the Motherland. On the second level on the choir were placed the supplementary altars.
On the 5 December 1931 the cathedral was blown up. Some of the frescos were removed and given to the Tretiakov gallery. Few of the haut-reliefs from the cathedral's facades were given to the Museum of Architecture (incorporated in the walls of the Donskoy Monastery). In 1990 started the reconstruction of the cathedral. There were used layouts by Thon and his adjoints, residing at the Museum of Architecture. The new cathedral was built on a huge stylobate, which houses the lower cathedral of Saint Nikolaos of Myra, Museum of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and hall of Counsil. The newly built cathedral was consecrated in 2000.