The Cathedral was built by the Hellenic Community of the then Transvaal for worship in the Greek Orthodox tradition. Designed by Herman Kallenbach in the Byzantine style appropriate to its patron saints, the Cathedral opened its doors on 5 January 1913. It had taken only six years for sufficient funds to be collected from the small Greek community, who were inspired greatly by their spiritual leader, Archimandrite Athanasios Nikolopoulos.