During Russian Knyaz Dondukov-Korsakov's visit to Varna, he noticed the need for a cathedral church that would suit the needs of the growing city's population of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Metropolitan Simeon gathered the community to elect a commission aimed at preparing the construction of a new church, particularly selecting the spot, raising money and securing timber and building materials. The construction was evaluated at 300–400,000 French francs, most of them expected to be collected by means of voluntary donations. The 15,000 francs that were initially collected were quickly laid out, but the Bulgarian government granted a sum of 100,000 leva and a lottery of 150,000 2-lev tickets was run.