[1] There used to be a previous church building on the same site built in 1866 informally called "Hall of the Fishing Boats" (网船公所).

[3] The current church building began its construction in 1893 under the leadership of the French priest Joseph Deffond.

The cathedral suffered a flood in 1991 and became listed as a culturally protected site (文物保护单位) of Suzhou that year.

However, it has a European open timber roof structure, very similar to the one of St Nicholas Church, North Walsham.

[4] In 1982 and 2000, the cathedral underwent renovations, in which the IHS Christogram, stained glass, icons, Corinthian capitals and stone arches were added.