 It is the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe.The cathedral was opened in 1912, thanks to the generosity of Russia's Tsar Nicholas II.From 1931 until 15 December 2011 (after a longstanding legal dispute over ownership was resolved), the parish that occupied the cathedral was part of the Paris-based Patriarchal Exarchate for Orthodox Parishes of Russian Tradition in Western Europe under the jurisdiction of the Church of Constantinople.