The church of the Archimandrion is the only one in the city of Ioannina for which we have clear evidence and testimonies that it existed from the 12th-13th century at least. Originally it was the monastery katholicon, while with the expansion of the city it became the parish church. The original church underwent a rather major renovation in 1627 and the first decade of the 19th century, when the wood-carved pulpit and the shrine are dated. It is the only church in Ioannina that was not destroyed during the siege of Ali Pasha of Ioannina in 1820-1822, and it was also the metropolitan church of the city in the period 1822-1832. Nevertheless, the church was demolished around 1852 and the present one was erected and completed in 1864. It is a large, three-aisled, domed basilica, with a two-story matroneum (female quarters) in the west and north sides. The marble iconostasis dates later in 1906, and so do its icons.
