The church was begun in 1238 and completed in 1263 under Manuel I of Trebizond. The article names no architect. It is a late Byzantine cross-in-square church with a high central dome, brick construction and prominent north and south porches. It is 72 feet (22 m) long, 38 feet (11.6 m) wide and 42 feet (12.7 m) tall. The floor is opus sectile.
Late 13th-century frescoes were uncovered in restoration from 1958 to 1964, and an expert estimated that no more than one-sixth of the original decoration survives. A bell tower of 1427 stands 24 meters west of the church.
It was a church until 1461, a museum from 1964, and a mosque again in 2013. A court ordered that the frescoes be visible outside prayer times. The building was closed for renovation from 2018 to 2020. The article gives no current hours or fees, and its accounts of ownership differ.
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