The first house church in Florence was founded in 1818 at the Russian diplomatic mission. In 1866, the Christmas church opened at the Russian embassy in Florence. Only in 1899 and 1903 was a separate temple built in the city, designed by Mikhail Preobrazhensky. The construction was overseen by local engineer Giuseppe Bocchini, and after his death, Giovanni Pacharrelli. The church included two temples: the lower one dedicated to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the upper one in honor of the Nativity of Christ.

The brick facades of the temple were adorned with a patterned frieze and numerous tiles. The interior of the upper church was done in the ancient Russian style, worked on by St. Petersburg artists Dmitry Kiplik, Alexander Blaznov, and others. The marble two-tiered iconostasis was created based on a sketch by Mikhail Preobrazhensky by Genoese master Giuseppe Novi with the help of Paolo Triscorni from Carrara. The decoration of the lower church included elements from the Roman house church of the Demidov princes in San Donato, unique icons from the Russian workshop of the Peshekhonovs, a wooden iconostasis, and other elements. From 1925 to 1936, the temple was used as a temporary burial place for members of the Greek royal family.