The main monastery church, the Intercession of the Mother of God, has been known since the 12th century. Initially, it was wooden, but in 1335, Archbishop Vasily laid the foundation for a stone temple in its place. Construction continued in 1399 under the guidance of Archbishop Ioann II.

The monastery was built on land near Zverinets, a protected forest where Novgorod princes hunted. Zverinets is first mentioned in the Novgorod Chronicle in 1069, when the Novgorodians achieved victory over the Polotsk prince Vseslav.

The cathedral is located in the northern part of the monastery, slightly south of the Church of Simeon the God-Receiver, and to the east, it adjoins the Church of the Intercession.

The stone Church of the Intercession was built in 1399, and at the end of the 14th century, it was rebuilt on the old foundation. The temple suffered during the Swedish occupation (1611-1617), but was soon restored and rebuilt in 1682. At that time, a warm side chapel of the Annunciation was added to the church from the west. In 1804, a new porch was built in its place, where two altars, the Annunciation and Archbishop Ionas, were consecrated.

In the late 19th century, the monastery authorities decided to increase the capacity of the Intercession Church by adding a new porch. However, it turned out that its walls and foundations were unreliable. It was decided to build a new large temple in place of the porch. Construction took place from July 1899 to September 1901 at the request of the abbess of the Zverin Monastery, Antonina. The new cathedral was consecrated by the Novgorod Archbishop Guriy in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. All icons and church utensils from the old Intercession Church were transferred here, and it was renamed in honor of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God.

The cathedral had five domes: the central massive light drum was pierced with four windows along the main axes and four niches along the intermediate ones. The corner drums were blind, decorated with a series of decorative kokoshniks, a wide arcature-column frieze, and a wavy belt. They were mounted on metal beams and served as false decoration. The facades were topped with a rich cornice, above which rose false zakomars with a keel-shaped finish. The square base was covered with an eight-pitched roof. There were 15 windows on the facades. A high iconostasis, including two side altars, separated the altar part from the main volume. This monument is a characteristic example of a cathedral from the late 19th to early 20th century, executed in an eclectic style.