The cathedral is inscribed on the list of Georgia's Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance.

[2] The current edifice is the result of several construction phases, destructions, and protection interventions.

The cathedral was almost completely destroyed in Timur's invasions of Georgia in 1400 and rebuilt by King Alexander I of Georgia (r. 1412–1442, who introduced a special tax to raise funds for the reconstruction of Ruisi and Mtskheta; An inscription in the western façade commemorates Alexander, while that in the southern façade mentions the architect Shalva.

The church was refurbished by Dionise Laradze, bishop of Ruisi, in the 16th century and by Queen Mariam of Kartli in the 1660s.

[2] The Ruisi cathedral is a cross-in-square church, measuring 27.3 × 19.6 m and rising to the height of 23.3 m. It is built of well-dressed sandstone blocks, with the additional use of basalt, limestone, and brick at the time of reconstruction.

The transition from the square central bay to the circular plan of the drum is effected through pendentives.

West of the church stands a bell-tower built in a defensive wall which encircles the entire complex.

Constructed in the 17th century, it is a three-storey structure, measuring 7.4 × 6.8 m.[2] Its ground storey contains arched passage, the first was a guardhouse, and the upper a belfry.