The church was built in the 14th  century by Manuel Cantacuzenus, first Despot of Mystra. In a probable attempt to revive memories of the Constantinopoitan way of life, he have this official palace chapel a name, hallowed by tradition, that would recall the << Great Church>> of the capital.
Here, it is said, were laid the bones of Theodora Tocco, first wife of Constantine Palaelogus; here too, it is believed, was buried Cleopa Malatesta, wife of Theodore Palaelogos.
The architectural style of St. Sophia- distyle cruciform crowned by a dome- is similar to that of the Evanghelistria.
The narthex, crowned by a large dome, is unusually large in relation to the main naos. On the north side, from which the visitor now enters the church, there is a portico, and chapels have been built in the four angles of the church. The elegant silhouette of the belfry rises at the west end of the portico. During the Turkish occupation, when St. Sophia converted into a mosque, the belfry served as a minaret.
Only a few of the original frescoes are preserved in the church. The fact that one of these representing Christ, spreads across the sanctuary apse may have given rise to the theory that the church was dedicated to Christ, the Life-Giver, and not, as traditionally believed, to the Holy Wisdom. On a higher level are four angels holding a circular Glory which formed part of a large composition of the Ascension covering the entire surface of the vault in the sanctuary.
More frescoes are preserved in the two east chapels, one of which is entered from the church, the other from outside. On the walls of the first chapel are depicted Christ, the Nativity of the Virgin above the entrance, and the Divine Liturgy. Nearly all the frescoes in the second chapel are well preserved: the <<Virgin Platytera>>, the Dormition of the Virgin, the Crucifixion, the Descent into the Hell, the Pantocrator and the Heavenly Powers.
Fragments of sculptural decoration, including the Monorgan of Manuel Cantacuzenus, the founder, and the Double-Headed Eagle of the Paleologoi are preserved on the capital of a column. The words Despotis and Cantacouzinos, are inscribed in abbreviated form on the capitals of two marble pilasters near the narthex.
Outside, a few meters beyond the present entrance to the church, two round holes in the ground indicate the position of a large underground cistern in which water was preserved for the needs of the Monastery, Running water, flowing in pipes from the opposite side of the Mountain, which is very fertile, only reached the level of the Palace. Higher up, in the direction of the Castle, there are neither remains nor traces of a single fountain, other than cisterns for preserving rain water.
The elegant oblong building with numerous apertures and apses near the north-west of the belfry was the refectory of the Monastery. Full length figures of saints which decorated all the apses and apertures of the edifice can still be distinguished.

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