The church is of hall type. Its main core is the principal building standing in the center of the enclosure, with annexes on the south, west and north. The church has been studied at various times by historians of art: Marie Brosset, S. Gorgadze, E. Takaishvili, Sh. Amiranashvili, V. Beridze, R. Schmerling and others. Researchers hold different views on the date of the Ubisi church's construction. Professor S. Gorgadze visited the church in 1911 and left a scholarly description of it. In his view, the foundation of the Ubisi monastery complex was first laid in the 9th century when, after Georgia's liberation from Arab rule, monastic and educational centers were being built on a broad scale under the leadership of the man of letters and church figure Grigol of Khandzta. Grigol of Khandzta and his disciples Kristepore and Teodore built the Ubisi monastery in Margveti, in the domain of Demetre, king of the Abkhazians.