The cathedral of the monastery, dedicated to the Protection of the Holy Virgin, featured original architecture in the shape of a ship with a pyramidal dome topped with a single cupola and a gilded cross. The upper part of the church consisted of four square tiers, which gave its style a resemblance to Eastern structures. These tiers, wide at the base and narrowing towards the top, were once adorned with plaster alabaster vases, but by the early 20th century, they had disappeared. The church had three entrances on the west, north, and south sides, leading to stone platforms with three to four steps. The altar was square-shaped with a semicircular eastern wall, illuminated by four windows. The central part of the church had two large semicircular windows, while the choirs had two small windows. The refectory was lit by two rows of windows, four in each, only on the southern side, as a two-story stone building of the sacristy, built together with the church, adjoined it on the northern side. Until 1893, a round bell tower of pyramidal shape stood over the western part of the church, accessible from the church porch. Later, it was replaced by a stone pediment with a cupola and an iron gilded cross. Initially, the iconostasis, created under Metropolitan Sampson, consisted of seven tiers, but in 1861, under Abbot Theophilus, it was modified, reducing it by one tier. The lower part of the iconostasis was decorated with four carved gilded columns and carvings. The refectory was separated from the central part of the church by a round arch, in the upper part of which wooden cells on stone pillars were arranged by Archbishop Tikhon in 1792. He spent all his time there and died on January 14, 1793. In the early 20th century, under Archimandrite Mitrophan, these cells were dismantled. Initially, the church had no paintings and was painted light blue to resemble marble. Only under Archimandrite Mitrophan did images of saints appear in the refectory.