The monument is located southeast of St. Sophia Cathedral and west of the St. Sophia Bell Tower. It is believed to have been designed by architect B. Rastrelli. The church, built in 1759 under Metropolitan Dmitry Sechenov with funds from Empress Elizabeth, was erected on the site of an ancient Novgorod temple constructed by Archbishop Vasily in 1336. In 1338, the temple was adorned with frescoes. In 1882, the warm cathedral was renovated, and the walls were plastered and painted.

In 1944, during excavations led by M.K. Karger, fragments of 14th-century fresco plaster with bright painting were found to the east of the altar of the modern church.

The church was closed in 1929, and in 1932, an Art Museum opened in it. During the war, the dome and ceilings were destroyed. In 1953, repairs were made, and the dome and drum were dismantled. The building was restored without a dome, and only one apse reminds of its cult past. It is no longer used as a church and has served as the Lecture Hall of the Novgorod Museum since the 1960s.

In 2009, during cable laying near the southern walls of the church, the foundation of the ancient Church of the Entry into Jerusalem, built in 1336, was found. Archaeological research began at this site in 2010.

The building is elongated, one-story, rectangular in plan, without internal columns, with a hipped roof. A square annex adjoins it from the north. The facades are designed in an order system and divided by Doric pilasters. The building is topped with a small wooden octagon. This is an example of the Baroque style and a dominant structure of St. Sophia Cathedral.