The Monastery of Saint Peter and Paul was built on the foundations of a demolished monastery, dating back to the period from the 6th to 11th century, which is presumed to date from the time of Emperor Justinian. Archeological research has revealed the remains of buildings dating from the earliest Christianity.
Tradition says that at the present site of the monastery were the temples dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul. The present church was built in the early 20th century.
On the hill above the monastery is the Paul’s Cave, and according to ancient tradition, in this cave, the inhabitants of Herzegovina were baptized by St. Paul.
The historical facts are indisputable: St. Titus, a disciple of St. Paul, baptized the people of Dalmatia and Liburnia of that time. The road of SCODRA – SALON, which took the first Christians to Rome, passed through the territory of present-day Herzegovina, whilst one branch of it led through the plain below Paul’s cave itself. According to St. Epiphany, St. Paul came to these areas in 57 AD, and St. Luke in 58 AD.
Archaeologists have discovered traces of the first Christian communities near Paul’s Cave – in Panik, within an ancient urban complex that depicts Orpheus in the composition of a floor mosaic with three crosses on his right hand.
According to legend, the water from Paul’s Cave helps barren women and girls who are “late” in marriage.
The area around the present-day monastery of Saint Peter and Paul, together with the necropolis of the ”stećak” tombstones (monumental medieval tombstones related to the Bogomil Sect), is an area that has been declared a national monument of BiH since March 2003. It is located 7 km southeast of Trebinje in Petrovo Polje.
TST