Sobornaya Square houses an impressive looking Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Sobornaya Square is a pleasant location to take in the scenery while sitting on a bench, people watch or do a little shopping in the Passage shopping mall, located directly across it. Even if you have no desire to shop, it is worth seeing this work of art.

In 1795 the Nickolayev Church was built on Sobornaya Square. The cathedral was one of the biggest in Russia. In 1936 Stalin order the Cathedral to be destroyed. In a cowardly manner the cathedral was dynamited in the night. Bricks recovered from the site were used to build a school. Now the Cathedral is rebuilt. The architects have only the old paintings and drawings to guide them in the rebuilding. The Cathedral is one of the most important monuments of the city's history and culture.