The church is one of the most important monuments of North Macedonia, housing architecture and art from the Middle Ages.

The current church was built on the foundations of a metropolitan cathedral demolished in the first decade of the 6th century by the barbarian invasions that brought the early Slavs into the region.

Some sources date the building of the church during the rule of Knyaz Boris I (852 – 889).

[3] The interior of the church has been preserved with frescoes from the 11th, 12th and 13th century, which represent some of the most significant achievements in Byzantine painting of the time.

[4] A detail from the church is depicted on the reverse of the 1000 Macedonian denar banknote, issued in 1996 and 2003.