Saint Sophia Cathedral is the traditional name of the former Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sofia (part of modern Pushkin). In 1780, Catherine II founded a new town not far from Tsarskoye Selo - Sofia, which even became a district town of St. Petersburg Province for a short time. The new town needed a church and on July 30, 1782 the St. Sophia Cathedral was laid. The construction of the church was finished in 1789 (architect Charles Cameron, also involving I. Starov). The temple was dedicated to the glorious victories in the Russian-Turkish wars. It was by the will of the Empress that the cathedral looked quite alike Saint Sophia temple in Constantinople.

In 1817, the cathedral received the status of a regimental church of the Life Guards Hussar Regiment. The Cathedral kept the St. George standards and regimental awards. The marble plaques with the names of the regiment officers who died in battle were placed on the walls.

The October Revolution changed many things in Russia drastically, including religious institutions. In 1934 the cathedral was closed, its rich interior was plundered, the unique iconostasis was destroyed, the plaques were torn down and broken. The war, which followed in 1941 caused serious damage to the building as well. It was only in 1990, that the cathedral was returned to the Orthodox Church. On the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the Battle of Neva, on September 12, 1990, a monument to Alexander Nevsky was erected near the walls of the cathedral. In 1999, the cathedral was completely consecrated, and has since been open to parishioners.

In 2003, the rector of the cathedral consecrated a monument to the Life Guards Hussar Regiment, made of dark red granite and located south of the cathedral.