St. Sophia Cathedral was founded in 1037 by Prince Yaroslav the Wise. According to legend, the temple was erected on the place where the Prince defeated the heathen Pechenegs. In XI-XIII centuries, the Cathedral was repeatedly ruined Cumans, Pechenegs, and especially the devastating destruction of the Cathedral was hit in the capture of Kiev in 1240 by the Mongols, under the leadership of Batu Khan. The temple was destroyed, but not annihilated. In 1385 — 90s, Metropolitan Cyprian recreated it from the ruins, after which more than three and a half centuries, the temple was in ruins. In 1630-ies of the Kyiv Metropolitan Petro Mohyla restored the Cathedral and founded a monastery. The work on the temple continued until 1740, when he finally acquired the present shape.

Bell tower of St. Sophia Cathedral was built by order of Hetman Mazepa. To this day, preserved bell is also on the order of a, which is located on the second floor of the bell tower and is called "Mazeppa".

The threat of destruction looming over the ancient temple complex in the twentieth century. In the early 1930s, the Soviet authorities took the decision to destroy Sophia, only the intervention of France, which remembered that Queen Anne (wife of Henry I) was the daughter of the founder of the temple of Yaroslav the Wise, is not allowed to destroy the relic.

Originally the Cathedral of St. Sophia was represented by its cross-domed Church with 13 chapters. On three sides it was surrounded by two-story gallery, and outside it even wider single. The nave of the Cathedral was finished in the East, five of the altar apses. But the result of alterations of the XVII—XVIII centuries the Cathedral has significantly changed its appearance. External galleries were built, new chapels, topped with additional domes (now 19). The Church was whitewashed. Ancient hemispherical shape of the heads was replaced by a characteristic of the Ukrainian Baroque high pear shape.

The interior of the Cathedral has preserved a large number of frescoes and mosaics from the XI century, made by the best Byzantine masters. The palette includes 177 colors of mosaics. On the walls of the temple depict scenes from the life of Christ and the virgin, her parents Joachim and Anna, the apostles Peter and Paul, St. George, the patron Saint of Kiev — the Archangel Michael and the many Orthodox saints.