The former Benedictine monastery was built in the middle of the Great Lake, on the Western part of the Island of Mljet. On the North side of the fortified monastery complex is the Romanesque church of St. Mary. Allegedly, it was built in the 12th century after Desa, the Grand župan of Zachlumia, in 1151 donated the Island of Mljet to the Benedictines. The Church was first mentioned by Serbian king Stefan the First-Crowned at the beginning of the 13th century, when the Nemanjyd dynasty had supreme power over the Island of Mljet.
Its a single nave edifice with a dome. Typologically, the Church follows the tradition of rural single-nave domed Churches from the end of the 11th and the middle of the 12th century in Apulia. Also, the Church resembles the Church dedicated to the Mother of God Euergetis in Studenica Monastery, in the size, plan, forms etc.