The inscriptions surviving on the cathedral's walls show that in the reign of Leon III, king of the Abkhazians, in 964, at the initiative of Bishop Ioane (of Kumurdo), the Georgian architect Sakotsari began building the cathedral. In the reign of Bagrat IV (1027–1072) a southern portico was added. The inscription at the west entrance records the church's repair and remodeling in the 16th century. Among the men of letters who worked at Kumurdo, noteworthy are Ioane of Kumurdo (10th century), who later labored on Mount Sinai, Zosime (11th century) and others.