The immense Annunciation Cathedral was built in the Russian revival style between 1998 and 2009 and is the third largest cathedral in Russia. The cathedral was built as a replacement of the previous Annunciation Cathedral which was built between 1718 and 1735 (itself replacing the original stone version completed on the orders of St Mitrofan of Voronezh in 1696). The previous Annunciation Cathedral was so heavily damaged in the Second World War that it was demolished in the 1950s. However in style the new Annunciation Cathedral is closer to the late-19th century St Vladimir’s Cathedral which was blown up in 1931.

St Mitrofan of Voronezh Monument

In 2009 the relics of St Mitrofan of Voronezh were transferred to the Annunciation Cathedral where they remain. Before he was canonised as a saint in 1832, St Mitrofan served as the first bishop of Voronezh from 1682 up to his death in 1703. During this time the bishop had a sometimes turbulent relation with Tsar Peter the Great, who was often in the city. In 2003 a statue of St Mitrofan was unveiled outside the Annunciation Cathedral.