The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kaluga achieved a kind of record: its 17 meter high unsupported dome is the biggest in Russia. Ivan Yasnigin, a disciple of Vasily Bazhenov, one of the most eminent masters of Russia, the author of the Mikhailovsky Castle (St. Michael’s Castle) in St. Petersburg and the Tsaritsyno Estate ensemble in Moscow, worked at the creation of the cathedral.
The first Trinity Cathedral was built in Kaluga no later than early XVII century. It was wooden and, according to the annals, Pseudo-Tsar False Dmitry II was buried just steps from it. A stone church with elements of Empire and Classicism appeared 200 years later. As envisioned by the architect, the cathedral was surrounded by Tuscan columns adjoining it, and the facade was painted with biblical scenes. The iconostasis of the cathedral was made according to the drawings of Matvey Kazakov, a prominent architect at the court of Catherine II.The building sustained great damage during the Great Patriotic War. Restoration of the temple began only in the 1990s, and the iconostasis was created anew. The main shrines of the cathedral are copies of several icons of the Mother of God, considered miraculous, and chests with holy relics.