The bell tower is an integral part of the cathedral complex and was situated in the north-east corner of the plot of land on which the Latin Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Kamenets-Podilskyi stands. Its construction began in connection with the expansion of the cathedral church during the pontificate of Bishop Pavel Dominikanin (1434-1453) , i.e. after Kamenets, together with Podolia, had been annexed to the Polish Crown. As part of this expansion, a presbytery was added to the existing body of the cathedral, and the construction of a free-standing tower began, which was completed at the end of the 15th century. At that time, the tower performed primarily a defensive function , forming, together with the Gothic bell towers of the Holy Trinity and St John the Baptist churches, and the Armenian Church of St Nicholas, an important component of the town's defensive system, clearly visible in the panorama of Kamenets.

Built of stone, on a square plan (12.7 × 12.7 m), the tower was distinguished by its massive walls, which narrowed in steps towards the top. Their thickness at the base exceeded 3 m, which clearly indicates the original defensive purpose of the building. The belfry had two entrances: one on the ground floor of the south wall led to a small, vaulted room; the other, located on the west wall at a height of 6 m above ground level, allowed direct access to the second storey. An external wooden staircase led to this higher entrance, which could be easily removed in case of danger. This solution was typical of medieval residential and defence towers, known as donzons in France and as stools in Central and Eastern Europe. The two lowest storeys of the tower were covered with vaults, while the three upper storeys were covered with beamed ceilings. Communication between the second and third storeys was by means of a staircase embedded in the thickness of the wall, while access to the other levels was by means of a wooden staircase supported on internal buttresses. The fourth storey was used to hang the bells, with high, arched windows - one on each wall - that allowed the sound of the tolling bell to spread freely. The fifth, and highest, tier was defensive in nature, with machicolations with shooting holes and overhanging bartizans at the corners. The tower was topped by a high pyramidal roof with dormers.

After 1699, when Kamenets, together with Podolia, returned to the Republic of Poland after the Turkish occupation, the function of the tower changed from defensive to exclusively bell-foundry. Therefore, in the mid-18th century, the defensive elements were removed. An idea of the original appearance of the top storey is given by the belfry at the Armenian Church of St. Nicholas in Kamenets Podolskyi - dating from the same period, also five-storey high and similar in height to the cathedral tower (22.7 metres against 24 metres). The Gothic character of the belfry, prior to its Baroque reconstruction, is preserved on a copperplate plan of Kamyanets-Podilskyi, drawn up by Cyprian Tomaševich after 1672.

The belfry was modernised in 1755-1757, during the pontificate of Bishop Nikolay Debovskyi , who initiated the restoration of the cathedral, entrusting its reconstruction to Jan de Witte (1709-1785) , a local military architect. The Baroque façade of the cathedral, completed in 1754, and the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary, cast in Gdansk and placed on the minaret on 10 May 1756, also date from this time. It was the need to place this statue, measuring 3.5 m high, on a height of 37 m and set it on a specially prepared pedestal crowning the minaret, that prompted the bishop to rebuild the bell tower. The tower, 40 m away from the minaret and situated on the same side of the cathedral, was superstructed, making it equal in height to the minaret and allowing for the construction of a wooden bridge between them - a kind of flyover. The heavy statue was moved to the top floor of the bell tower ; its transport was facilitated by the earlier demolition of the vault between the second and third floors. The statue was then hoisted onto a platform, which, with the help of blocks and ropes, was pulled over and mounted on the minaret. The completed operation was evidence of outstanding technical skill, the author of which, as Olga Płamienicka points out, was also Jan de Witte.

As a result of the superstructure , elements testifying to the original defensive character of the tower were removed, and replaced by architectural articulation typical of the Baroque. The decoration was restricted to the top two storeys only , while the lower parts were left plain. This was justified because they were not visible from close up, and from a distance - above the roofs of the buildings - only the upper part of the building was visible. The corner rustication remained the only motif on all levels of the tower. The 7 m high Gothic windows on the penultimate storey have been bricked up. In their place, blind arcades supported by Tuscan pilasters were introduced, flanked by single composite pilasters - similar to those dividing the cathedral façade. Above them runs a slightly broken beam, flowing smoothly into the bases of the pilasters of the top floor. The top floor was never completed to its full height due to the death of the founder, as is evident from the shafts of the pilasters lacking capitals. Between them, on each wall, are large, rectangular windows in bands with eyelets. On the lower storey, in the arcade niche, there are two openings each: a rectangular one in the lower part and a circular one above, both framed by stone bands. It was in this storey that the bells, of which there were six, were hung. Three of them belonged to the original equipment of the cathedral. The oldest was the bell of St Stephen, founded in 1700 by Bishop Jan Dluzewski . From 1741 came the bell consecrated by Bishop Jan Gniński, while the largest, tolled in 1820 during the pontificate of Bishop Franciszek Mackiewicz, was created from the shattered bell of St Michael, founded in 1718 by Bishop Stefan Rupniewski. The other three bells were moved here from the Church of Our Lady of Victory, after the dissolution of the Discalced Carmelite monastery.

No information has been preserved about the original shape of the belfry roof ; all that is known is that it was covered with shingles. The present sheet metal roofing dates from the second half of the 19th century and has the form of a low tent roof topped with a metal cross. The small rectangular building next to the tower on the side of the church square dates from the same period. It was added in place of the former covered wooden external staircase leading to the second storey. This entrance, although now obscured by the building, has been preserved to this day. In the 19th century, it housed the church storehouse, where the funeral hearse and other utensils were stored. Before the First World War, the room was used as a church flat. Today, the building is used by the Ursuline Sisters after reconstruction in the 1990s.