Transfiguration Cathedral (official name: , The Cathedral of the Lord's Transfiguration of all the Guards) is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral. It is located on Transfiguration Square (), just off Liteyny Prospekt near the Chernyshevskaya metro station. Unlike most Russian churches, it has never ceased operating as a place of worship. The church has given names to both Transfiguration Square and a nearby lane, which was formerly known as Church Lane () and is now known as Radishchev Lane (). History Construction of the cathedral was ordered by empress Elizabeth of Russia and occurred from 1743 to 1754, based on a design by architect Mikhail Zemtsov. The cathedral was built in the place of an old barracks, that of the grenadier division of the Preobrazhensky regiment in honor of the Empress's ascension onto the throne with the help of some soldiers and officers of that regiment. The cornerstone was laid June 9, 1743. After the death of Mikhail Zemtsov, Pietro Antonio Trezzini headed construction. Trezzini slightly altered the project, changing the style to Baroque. The cathedral was blessed by archbishop Sylvester in the presence of the empress, on the eve of the holy day of the Transfiguration of Christ. The iconostasis and the altar canopy were completed by Kobilinsky woodcutters from Moscow from the drawings of architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The figures were painted by M. L. Kolokolnikov. During the reign of the emperor Paul I, the regimental Transfiguration Cathedral received the honorary title "of all the Guards", November 12, 1796. August 8 (August 20, New Style), 1825, the first Transfiguration Cathedral was lost to fire. All that remained of the cathedral were the exterior walls and the essential sacred objects, which had been saved. Between 1825 and 1829 it was rebuilt by architect Vasily Stasov in the Empire style that exists today. Metropolitan Serafim dedicated the rebuilt cathedral, August 5 (August 17, New Style), 1829. The main altar was dedicated in honor of the holy day of the Transfiguration of Christ, the right (southern) side chapel in honor of the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh, and the left (northern) side chapel in honor of the martyrs Pope Clement I and Pyotr Aleksandriysky, both of whose feast day is marked November 25 (Old Style). A parish charitable society began at the cathedral in 1871, maintaining an almshouse, a children's shelter, a cafeteria, a school for children of soldiers, and free living quarters.