The Archangel Michael was chosen as the patron saint of the rulers of Muscovy in the 14th Century and is s a Russian Orthodox church.

There are 54 burials in the cathedral, with 46 ornamented whitestone tombstones (1636–1637) and glazed cases made of bronze (1903). Of note is the tomb of Tsarevich Demetrius, the son of Ivan the Terrible, was buried there in the early 17th century and was later canonized.
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the cathedral was damaged during the fighting. Afterwards, it was closed by the Bolshevik regime. During the 1950s, along with the other surviving churches in the Moscow Kremlin, was preserved as a museum. A large portion of the church’s treasures were either transferred to the Kremlin Armory Museum, or sold overseas.
After 1992, the building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and occasional religious services resumed.