Catherine the Great granted the site to the Armenians of St. Petersburg on May 2, 1770. Yury Felten was the architect. The jeweler Ivan Lazarev requested the site and financed most of the construction, giving 30,000 of the 33,000 rubles. Building began in the spring of 1771 and finished in 1776, and the church was consecrated on February 18, 1780.
The article calls it an early example of Russian Classicism. It is painted white and blue, with a Neoclassical portico and a single cupola. It had no bells until 1865. Alexander Tamanian renovated it from 1906 to 1909.
Soviet authorities closed it by 1930. The Armenian community regained ownership in August 1992 and the church was reconsecrated on July 12, 2000. It is an active Armenian Apostolic church.
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