Tradition credits King Vakhtang I Gorgasali or his son Dachi with founding Metekhi in the 5th or 6th century, but the article says no evidence supports either claim. Much of the existing structure dates from the reconstruction of 1278 to 1289 under King Demetrius II. It is a cross-in-square church on a plan of 66 by 52 feet (20 by 16 m), with a dome on four internal pillars, an archaic feature.
It has three convex apses on the east facade. The walls are hewn stone blocks, and the south facade was rebuilt in brick in the 18th century.
The church sits on a cliff above the river. Erekle II made it his court church in 1748. Later the fortress became a prison, and in 1937 demolition was planned but halted after local protest. It served as a youth theater from 1974 and was returned to worship in 1988.
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