Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral - the main Orthodox church of Zhytomyr - one of the symbols of the city. It was built at the direction of Emperor Alexander II in the Byzantine-Russian style with the characteristic features of ancient Russian architecture in 1866-74 on the site of the Basilian Greek Catholic Church. The temple is made of brick, has the shape of a cross, three-aisled, with five hipped domes, with a four-tiered bell tower 53 meters high and nine bells, with the main bell weighing more than 8 tons. In the design of the interior of the temple, granites from the quarries of the Zhytomyr region and labradorites from Volyn were widely used. Wall decoration and icons were made by Academician of Arts Mikhail Vasiliev.

In the 1930s, the City General Plan planned to demolish the Transfiguration Cathedral and build the House of the Red Army in its place, which was prevented by the Second World War. The bells were removed from the cathedral, and in our time a new main bell weighing 750 kg was made.