Pitsunda Cathedral was built at the end of the 10th century by King Bagrat III of Georgia.

According to 17th century French traveller Jean Chardin, Catholicos, who no longer lived in Pitsunda, visited the cathedral once a year with the retinue of bishops and princes to perform the sanctification of chrism.

It holds a pipe organ from the Alexander Schuke factory in Potsdam, Germany, installed in 1975.

[2] The cathedral is notable for its impressive size, reaching 29 m high (including the dome), 37 m long and 25 m wide; the walls are up to 1.5 m thick.

The building rests on heavy slabs of grey sandstone; the walls are made up of alternating rows of stone and brickwork, a typical technique for late Byzantine architecture.