The construction of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was funded by citizens and Emperor Nicholas II, who donated more than 11 thousand rubles for the construction and creation of the iconostasis. He also handed over to the cathedral a few icons from Mount Athos.
The construction of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral began in 1897. One of the first stone buildings in Novosibirsk outwardly resembles the Byzantine churches and the Church of Our Lady the Merciful in St. Petersburg. Italian experts were in charge of brick-laying, the flooring was laid with Dutch tiles and the wall painting was entrusted with the painters of the first Siberian icon workshop in Tomsk. In 1938 the cathedral was closed. It was planned to blast the building, but eventually only the bell-tower was destroyed. The temple was first given to the institute, then to the military base, and then to the newsreel studio. In 1989, the cathedral was returned to the church.