The narthex is designed to be similar to the Chapter House of Wells Cathedral, and the cloister (enclosed in 1957) is modeled after the one at Canterbury Cathedral.
The ground plan is that of a classic "cross-in-square-form" typical of Macedonian-period architecture, with four columns and three domes, one central and two over the narthex.
Built in the 12th-14th centuries, the Tsalenjikha Cathedral is a central cross-domed church with a narthex and three arcaded galleries two of which, that to the south and north, had been converted into the familial chapel of the House of Dadiani.