The cross, of which this fragment was a part, belonged to the Kuznetsk Church of the Transfiguration (today - the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour). In 1929, local artist and ethnographer Konkordy Yevreinov wrote down from the words of the head of the church that the eight-pointed cross was given to Kuznetsk for its centenary in 1717 by Peter I himself. That is partially confirmed by the inscription on the surviving fragment:

When in 1935 the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour was closed, the district council sent wooden elements of its decoration, including the cross, to the city schools. They were supposed to be used as work material in arts and crafts classes. The ancient cross was taken apart and the upper part of it was taken to school No. 21, and the lower part with the pedestal was taken to school No. 10. Konkordy Yevreinov found and examined the lower part of the relic, cut down its fragment carefully and handed it over to the Kuznetsk Ethnography Museum. 

Other parts of the cross have been lost. Its full description is preserved in one of the issues of Sibirsky Vestnik newspaper of 1894. According to the publication, the face of the cross depicted Jesus Christ and two angels holding the crown over his head. On the right hand of the Savior was the Mother of God, and on the left hand was St. John the Evangelist. The patibulum of the cross was decorated with the images of the saints: Boris, Nikita, George, Dmitry, John and Gleb. On the back of the relic one could see the Acheiropaeic Image of Christ, below – the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker, depicted in full height. And the fragment presented in the exposition was at the very bottom of the back of the cross.