The current name has been known since 1844. Given after the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God (Vladimirsky Prospekt, Building No. 20). From October 6, 1923 to July 10, 1950 - Nakhimson Square. Named in honor of S. M. Nakhimson (1885-1918), a participant in the revolutionary movement in Russia, military commissar of the Yaroslavl District.

In the first half of the 17th century, the area of ​​this square adjoined the settlement inhabited by court servants. In 1747, a wooden church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was built here. Later, in 1761-1769, a stone church was built in its place, from which the name of the square came. Simultaneously with the construction of the church, work was carried out to redevelop the adjacent blocks. The architectural dominant of the square is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Vladimir, the exterior of the temple is made in the Baroque style. The upper temple has preserved the iconostasis of the 18th century, transferred in 1808 from the church of the Anichkov Palace. The monumental building of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Vladimir closes the perspective of Zagorodny Prospekt.

The life of the Vladimir Church was associated with the names of outstanding figures of Russian culture. The parishioners of the temple were Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin, Lev Nikolaevich Gumilyov and many others.

The main shrines of the temple are the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, the icon of the "Savior Not Made by Hands", consecrated by St. Righteous John of Kronstadt, as well as the image of Seraphim of Sarov with a particle of his holy relics.

In 1997, a monument to F. M. Dostoevsky by Lyubov Kholina was unveiled on Vladimirskaya Square, in line with Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street.