A bas-relief with a design of two upright heraldic lions on either side of the monogram of the Peribleptos surmounts the arched entrance of the peribolus of the Monastery. Little is known of either the history of the church or of its founder. There are only two indications: one of a representation of a man and woman, doubtless the founders, offering a model of the church to the Virgin, on the tympanum of the blind arch of the drum on the west wall of the lower storey, below the depiction of the Descent into Hell: the other consists of the name of Byzantine notable, Leon Mavropappas, inscribed above the outer entrance of the adjacent narthex which is of a later date.
Two buildings of the original monastery survive: the church with its chapels, and the refectory, a tower-like edifice with distinct Frankish features, situated on the north side of the peribolous. Architecturally the Peribleptos belongs to the type of <<distyle cruciform>> church in which the dome is supported by two columns and two engaged pilasters embedded in the walls of the sanctuary. Certain individual architectural features, however, result from a projection of rock and the general configuration of the ground. The main entrance, for instance, is on the north, instead of the west, side and the shape of the church is not, as usual, rectangular.
Later, two small chapels, constructed in the cloissone stonewalling method, were added on the east side. An impression of a church that does not rest on the ground but is somehow borne in mid-air is thus created.
The Peribleptos possesses the most lavish and best preserved painted decoration at Mystra. The frescoes, cleaned in 1962, are dated to the mid 14th century.
The walls of the Prothesis immediately left of entrance, are decorated with a magnificent Divine Liturgy, one of the finest frescoes in the whole of Mystra. A meticulous attention to rhythm, which seems to create the effect of a serene other-worldliness, emphasizes the whole composition, which is rendered particularly striking by the uniform angularities of the movements of the figures in the divine procession.
The <<Virgin Platytera>> is depicted in the ape of the sanctuary. Higher up, the entire vault is covered with a representation of the Ascension, with four superb angels surrounding Christ.
On the two walls below are depicted scenes from the Holy Communion.
On the upper part of the apse of the Diaconicon there is a marvelously preserved Sleeping Christ, in the left vault  the Denial of Peter and the Road to Calvary and the Crucifixion. In the vaults surrounding the dome unfold scenes from the <<Dodecaorton>> .
In the east vault are representations of  the Transfiguration and the Raising of Lazarus, and right of the Last Supper and the Entry into Jerusalem; in the north vault Pentecost and the Incredulity of Thomas.
Alone among the churches of Mystra the Peribleptos preserves frescoes in the dome; a grandiose pantocrator which occupies a small sector in the center. while the remaining surface each containing a Cherubim at the top and a pair of Prophets below, the Virgin flanked by two Angels and directly opposite, the <<Preparation of the Throne>>. There are also full-length figures of prophets around the tympana of the windows.
Scenes the Passion cover the walls of the church. Among the most beautiful are the Descent from the Cross on the south wall and the Descent into Hell on the west wall above the fresco of the founders.
The life of the Virgin is lavishly illustrated in a band which girdles almost the entire church. The finest of these scenes is the grandiose Dormition on the north wall, immediately above the entrance.
On a lower level full-length life-size figures of military saints, angels, prophets and bishops are depicted on pilasters, arches and the remaining expanses of wall-space.
The border tendencies which distinguished the painted decoration of the Aphendiko are less evident here. The conservative spirit which prevailed in mid-14th century Byzantium under the Cantacuzenus dynasty seems to have influenced the creative are of the period. The world-famous frescoes of the Peribleptos, while bearing a remarkable resemblance to the detailed work characteristic of portative icons, also foreshadowed the so-called Cretan School which was to dominate the post-Byzantine period.

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