The cathedral was originally built in the c. second half of the 10th century within the fortified settlement (gród) of Poznań, which stood on what is now called Ostrów Tumski.

This was one of the main political centers in the early Polish state, and included a ducal palace (excavated by archaeologists since 1999, beneath the Church of the Virgin Mary which stands in front of the cathedral).

The first church survived for about seventy years, until the period of the pagan reaction and the raid of the Bohemian duke Bretislav I (1034–1038).

In 1821, Pope Pius VII raised the cathedral to the status of a Metropolitan Archcathedral and added the second patron - Saint Paul.

The last of the great fires occurred on 15 February 1945, during the Battle of Posen and its capture by the Red Army, assisted by Polish volunteers.