According to his son and biographer, Stefan the First-Crowned, the monastery was built between 1159 and 1168, as a result of a meeting with the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos.

The research of Olga Zirojević indicates that based on annual income, the monastery was only active between 1455 and 1530, and in 1661, traveling Turkish writer Evliya Çelebi made mention of an abandoned church in the area.

A century later, Austrian painter and traveling writer Felix Kanitz recorded that very little remained of the structure.

The base of the church has a triconch shape, and on the eastern side is an altar apse which is triangular on the outside and round on the inside, unlike traditional Serbian side apses, which are semicircular in shape both outside and inside.

The narthex, rebuilt in the 14th century, was the same width as the nave, with two rectangular rooms on the north and south sides.

However, as stated above, Austrian painter and travelling writer Felix Kanitz recorded the richness of the beautiful frescoes inside.