The Cathedral of the Annunciation in Voronezh is one of the three largest Orthodox churches in Russia. It is named after the first stone Voronezh Orthodox church built in 1682 and destroyed in the 1950s. In 1998, the church received a site in the center of the city, in the Pervomaisky Garden, to restore the cathedral. Maples of the early XX century are still preserved in the garden, laid as early as in 1850. Parishioners like the courtyard near the temple, where there is a playground, a buffet and a church shop.
The Cathedral of the Annunciation is built in Byzantine style. The 85-meter temple with a 12-meter cross weighing 5 tons was placed on a powerful stylobate. The main bell weighing 6 tons was cast here, in Voronezh. The iconostasis is decorated with carvings, gilding and lapis lazuli. Behind the throne you can see a mosaic image of the Savior, the Virgin and the Prophet John, resembling a similar image in St. Sophia Church (Hagia Sophia Church) in Istanbul. A bronze monument to the first bishop Mitrofan of Voronezh was erected in the church garden in 2003. And in 2009, his relics were transferred to the temple and placed in a malachite shrine. The ark with the relics of the Twelve Apostles is one of the cathedral’s relics.