In all the vast Siberia, there is no building of a more venerable age than the St. Sophia Assumption Cathedral. It was built in 1686 by Moscow and Velikoustyuzhsk craftsmen under the direction of G. Sharypin, G. Tyutin, V. Kharitonov and S. Larionov. The Ascension Church of the Chudov Monastery, located near the Moscow Kremlin, was used as a model. In 1704, a small chapel was added to the north side of the cathedral. In the middle of the XIX century. it was rebuilt and extended along the entire northern wall, consecrated in the name of John Chrysostom. In the crypt of the chapel are the graves of the Tobolsk metropolitans.

For several centuries, the St. Sophia Assumption Cathedral was the cathedral for the Tobolsk diocese.

The St. Sophia Cathedral houses the main shrines of the Tobolsk-Tyumen metropolia: relics of saints, miraculous icons, as well as frescoes unique to Siberia of the XVIII century.