The history of the St Petersburg's Roman Catholic community goes back to 1705 when Peter the Great gave permission for the construction of a catholic church which was completed in 1710.  Plans to then build a bigger church were approved by Empress Anna in 1738, but this was later abandoned in 1751.  It was only under Catherine the Great that construction work began again and the new church was consecrated in 1783.  Like other churches of various faiths in the city, it was dedicated to St Catherine of Alexandria in honour of Catherine the Great.  Its chief architectures were Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe and then Italian Antonio Rinaldi.

After the Revolution the church remained open until 1938 when it was turn over to be used as a storeroom for the Museum of History of Religion and of Atheism.  After the fall of the Soviet Union the church underwent restoration work and was fully reopened in 2003.  Today it is part of the Archdiocese of Moscow and is the only catholic church in Russia to be granted the status of a minor basilica.