It is not known when the first Church of the Holy Cross was built on the site of the present shrine. Its origins are lost in the mists of history, and due to the lack of surviving documents is a subject of dispute among historians. The present small brick building on an octagonal plan, of a relatively simple, ascetic architecture, with a bell-shaped dome was constructed in this form in 1810. It is, at least, the third successive building on this site.