St. Michael's Cathedral was built in 1863. The brick Orthodox temple in the form of a cross with a round in the center was erected right on the place of the ruins of St. Joseph's Catholic Church which had stood there for more than twenty years. The Catholic church, which was built by the order of Emperor Paul I in 1820, belonged to the monastery of the Piarists. The construction lasted more than 20 years. Its design was reminiscent of ancient temples and the Roman Pantheon. Moreover, builders had to demolish the old wooden church which had stood in this place and prevented the enlargement of the Roman Catholic Monastery Complex.

Unfortunately, the entire monastery complex was totally demolished as a result of a severe fire in 1842. That day the biggest part of the city was burned down. So there was no possibility to restore the former majestic monastery and the church. Its ruins had been destroyed more and more until 1863 – when construction works of the new temple, the Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel, were funded.

The brick temple made in the classicism style was a rotunda with a hemispherical dome and an octagonal lantern. On one side, the main building is adjoined to a porch with a triangular pediment on four columns, and on the other side – to a two-story sacristy. High rectangular windows perfectly light up the interior of the temple. Along the perimeter of the main construction, there are eight pairs of the Doric Order columns, and the walls are encircled by a simplified entablature. The ceiling is adorned with imitations of caissons and rosettes which are made in the technique of grisaille, and the memorial plaque at the entrance to the temple is decorated with a bas-relief with writing. Not far from the cathedral, there is a stone single-tiered bell tower made in the style of late classicism.

In 1919, a part of Belarus was invaded by the Polish army, and the Orthodox temple was rebuilt as a Catholic church. It had been active until 1957 – then it was closed by the local authorities. And only in 1996, the building was returned to the Orthodox Church and was named – St. Michael's Cathedral.