The Church in the name of the Descent of the Holy Spirit was built by Pskov masters in 1476-1477. In the 18th century, the upper part of the building was altered, and reconstructions took place in the 17th-19th centuries. The church was inactive from 1920 until the 1940s. Major restoration work was carried out from 1937 to 1946 by P.D. Baranovsky and I.V. Trofimov, with completion and decoration done in 1960 by V.I. Baldin and Yu.N. Gerasimov.

This brick building with a white stone base and portals is a unique example of Moscow architecture, representing a church "under the bells." The monument, possessing a number of new features compared to earlier Moscow constructions, plays an important role in the history of Russian architecture, defining the directions for the further development of cult architecture. The four-pillar, single-domed, three-apsidal temple is topped with a drum, at the base of which is a bell tower in the form of an arcade on six massive round pillars. It opens into the drum and is separated from the temple by a dome vault. The facades of the building emphasize the verticality of the overall composition. Narrow bundle pilasters divide the facade planes into three parts, completed with false keel-shaped zakomaras. The pointed shape of the keel is repeated in the outline of the diagonal kokoshniks at the base of the bell tower, in its archivolts and contours of the perspective portals. Vertical bundles in the decoration of the apses are united at the top by a garland with a carved decorative finial. The base of complex profile is adorned with a palmette ribbon. The top of the drum and the square of the temple below the five zakomaras is surrounded by a three-part terracotta frieze with balusters and two rows of red, partially glazed tiles in green and ochre tones with a relief floral ornament. The external decoration is complemented by painting located in the central zakomara of the northern facade and in the round kiot of the western facade. The interior of the temple is dark and almost devoid of upper light. Its columns are unique, square with beveled corners, supporting elevated impost arches. The vaults are barrel-shaped. In the side naves, there is an altar barrier. The original wall painting "by the order of Patriarch Nikon" from 1655, updated in 1778, was replaced in 1866 with oil painting on new plaster and was repeatedly renewed in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The iconostasis made of pink wood with artistic motifs from the 17th century was created by I.M. Malyshev. The floor is laid with stone slabs. The relics of St. Anthony of Radonezh, who was the abbot of the lavra from 1831 to 1877, are kept in the temple.