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The church has its origins in the castle chapel of the comital residence. From 1050, a foundation of secular canons was associated with this church, organised in 1102 by the bishop of Thérouanne, while the church became the primary church of Ypres.
The canons provided the spiritual care of the people of Ypres and lived according to the rule of Saint Augustine. The head of the canons was a provost. As the provostship developed considerably thanks to gifts from both the clerical and civil worlds, the construction of a new church could begin in the 13th century.
In 1221 a part of the choir was added in Arras sandstone. The new choir was consecrated in 1251. Then the building of the nave and the transept began.
After the tower collapsed in the 15th century, the erection of a new tower was undertaken.

After the French Revolution, Saint Martin's cathedral was confiscated in 1797, but bought back two years later by a citizen of Bruges wishing to do business through the demolition of the building and the sale of the building materials. A churchwarden of Ypres bought the church back in 1800.

In the second half of the 19th century the cathedral underwent several periods of restoration. From 1907, a systematic restoration of the exterior was begun under the direction of the architect Jules Coomans. His architectural plans proved highly useful after 1918.
In 1914 the tower was still under scaffolding when the First World War caused the almost total destruction of the church. Many religious works of art (altars, choir stalls, pulpit) were irretrievably lost.
Thanks to the intrepid efforts of a great many volunteers under the leadership of Father Camiel Delaere, a large number of objects could be saved in the churches and sacristies.
The clearing of the rubble began in 1921. On 11 November 1922, the foundation stone of a new cathedral was laid. It was the architect Jules Coomans who carried out the reconstruction and had the tower crowned with a spire.

The rebuilt church was consecrated on 15 July 1930. At Easter 1931, five bells were blessed and took their place in the tower. The bells are named: Martinus, Maria, Andreas, Jan van Waasten, Margareta van Ieper.
During the Second World War the cathedral was only slightly damaged.
From whatever direction one approaches Ypres, Saint Martin's cathedral and its slender tower dominate the horizon and the view over the town. It is a harmonious interplay of Gothic curves and pointed arches, directed towards the sky.
Saint Martin's cathedral is one of the most imposing monuments of Ypres, alongside the Cloth Hall and the town ramparts.
In the church are several objects of particular importance, such as the tomb of Bishop Jansenius, a slab bearing the date 1638 (the year of Jansenius's death), the tomb of Count Robert de Béthune, the “Lion of Flanders”, and the side altar with its retable and the miraculous statue of “Notre-Dame-van-Thuyne”.
The church has two organs: an organ by Jules Anneessens dating from 1931 and an organ by “Loncke Orgelbouw”, built in 1985 for Saint Nicholas's church but re-erected since 2009 in the Provostship hall of the cathedral.
The lapidary museum next to the cathedral holds remains of the Provostship of Saint Martin.