The first mention of the monastery complex is July 1710, when Peter the Great ordered the construction of a monastery to Saint Alexander Nevsky on a plot of land close to the present , believing this to be the site of Alexander Nevsky's 1240 victory over the Swedes at the Battle of the Neva. The first buildings on the site were wooden constructions, with the first church, the Church of the Annunciation, consecrated on 25 March 1713, the date used as the official foundation date of the monastery. The general plans for the monastery complex had been drawn up by Domenico Trezzini, and construction began on the cathedral in 1719, to a design by architect . The dome was installed by 17 June 1722 and work was nearing completion in 1731, when severe cracking was found on the supporting masonry. Work was stopped, and in 1744 orders were given to raze the building, Ivan Rossi overseeing its demolition down to its foundations between 1753 and 1755. Interest in completing the monastery complex waned, until Empress Catherine the Great acceded to the throne in 1762. In 1763 a competition to select the design of the cathedral was held, but none of the entrants was chosen. Finally eleven years later, in 1774, a design by Ivan Starov was selected, a single-domed cathedral in the neoclassic style.