The basilica is believed to have been dedicated to the Archangel Michael and was in use until the 11th century, when, according to research[citation needed], the building was set on fire by the Norman army led by Robert Guiscard, who occupied Dürrakhion in 1081.

Based on art historical research, the three-lobed floor plan characterized the basilicas assigned to the cult of saints and martyrs in the region, and presumably the main task of the Arapaj may have been to preserve a relic.

Attached to the south side of the basilica is a smaller burial chamber buried in the ground, in which the remains of a man and a woman have been excavated by archaeologists.

Representations of contemporary geometric mosaics known from the territory of present-day Albania, but also moving away from the sacral (mythical or biblical) in the direction of the profane, make the Arapaj site special.

Two scenes can be seen on the mosaic surface: in one part, two contemporary peasants — a woman and a man — sit outdoors surrounded by their dogs, horses, goats, and sheep; the other half of the panel depicts a two-eared crater, from whose mouth the wine flows in two directions, and a stag and a cow approach each branch of the resulting wine stream to quench their thirst.