One of the most respected churches in St. Petersburg was located on Znamenskaya Square (now Vosstaniya Square) and served as the main architectural decoration, completing the ceremonial part of Nevsky Prospect.

Next to the church ran the Ligovsky Canal (now replaced by Ligovsky Prospect), along which the road to the countryside passed.

By the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, a wooden church was built on Nevsky Prospect in 1765, for which the utensils and icons were taken from the reserves of the Winter Palace. However, the importance of the intersection of two main city thoroughfares and the large number of residents in this area required the construction of a stone church, which was laid in 1794 according to the design of architect F.I. Demertsov.

The architecture of the church belongs to the Tuscan order, with internal vaults supported by columns, and its dimensions are modest. The land plot for the church covered 614 square fathoms, of which 438 were under the church house on the right side of the Ligovsky Canal, and 176 under the church itself and its fence.

The church was consecrated in 1804. The main altar was dedicated to the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, while the side altars were dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Sign of the Mother of God.

In 1809, the same architect built the fence and two corner chapels, which were remodeled by architect P.A. Chepyzhnikov between 1863 and 1865.

The highly venerated icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos was located in the Znamenskaya chapel. It was placed on an elevation in an ancient silver setting and painted in 1175 in Novgorod by the Greek Christophor Semenov. Among the church's relics was an altar cross with particles of the relics of St. Andrew the First-Called, St. Demetrius of Thessalonica, and other saints.

The church building was topped with five helmet-shaped domes, of which the central one was slightly taller and wider. The facades were rusticated, and the entrances were decorated with Ionic columns. Demertsov enlarged the side domes almost to the size of the main one. Inside the church, the space under the domes was surrounded by a light colonnade of the Corinthian order, highlighting the central nave.

Since 1865, a parish charitable society operated at Znamenskaya Church to assist the poor. It maintained a nursing home for elderly and disabled women with 59 places, opened on August 15, 1866, a day shelter for 200 children of both sexes, established on September 20, 1867, a refuge for 22 orphans, opened on December 23, 1884, with two schools, a church-parish school and a literacy school, free apartments for 120 poor women and their 40 children, a section of cheap apartments with 16 rooms and a shared kitchen for families and single poor women, and a free canteen for the poor, opened on February 6, 1900.

By the early 20th century, in addition to two stone chapels built in 1864 at the corners of the stone fence, the church owned a three-story stone house with a wing and various services on Znamenskaya Street, as well as a two-story stone house with services at the corner of 1st Rozhdestvenskaya Street and Orlovsky Lane. In these houses, some apartments were rented out for housing and commercial premises.

Until 1938, the church remained active.

In March 1941, the church was blown up to make way for the "Vosstaniya Square" metro station, which opened in 1955. In December 2003, a commemorative plaque was installed on the station building.