On 1 November 1768 a service of thanksgiving was held here for the recovery of Catherine II from the indisposition brought on by vaccination against smallpox. In the last years of her life Catherine listened to the liturgy from the choir gallery, while the rest of the imperial family and the retinue of courtiers were below, in the body of the church.
The church was badly affected by the 1820 fire: the ceiling painting was lost and some of the woodcarving burnt; only the icons could be saved. During the restoration supervised by Stasov the lost elements of woodcarving were replaced by gilded papier-mâché, while the artist Vasily Shebuyev (1777–1855) recreated the Resurrection ceiling painting from written descriptions and the recollections of those who had known it.
Today the Palace Chapel, looted (of the 97 extant icons only three that were evacuated survived) and partially destroyed during the war, is being prepared for restoration