Ostaci crkve sv. Pavla

Ispred vas nalaze se ostaci dviju sakralnih građevina koje su po tradiciji nosile titular Sv. Pavla. Prva građevina je jednobrodan prezbiterij s dvostrukim apsidama, a nastala je u 5,6 stoljeću. Druga građevina je suženog gabarita, koja se nalazi unutar prve, nastala je u 11/12 stoljeću.
Prema kamenoj građi i zidanim strukturama arheolozi zaključuju kako se koristio građevci materijal Villae Rusticae sa lokaliteta "Žara"  iz rimskog doba.

Crkva Svetog Pavla vezuje se za brodolom i spas sv. Pavla na otoku "Melita" u Jadranskom moru, a spominje se i u Bibliji, u djelima apostolskim poglavlje 27. i  28.  

Prema tradiciji, spašavajući se od velikog nevremena i brodoloma, sv. Pavao nasukao se svojim brodom na jugoistočnoj obali otoka Mljeta. U polju Žara nadomak mjesta Korita jedan dio otočani i danas zovu Crkva ili Crkvina, a u narodu kruži predaja kako je to od davnina predio crkve sv. Pavla. Stari Mljećani kažu da je crkva bila podignuta u čast apostola Pavla, koji je nakon brodoloma 61. godine boravio na Mljetu tri mjeseca.

Opisujući svoje legendarno putovanje od Jeruzalema do Rima apostol Pavao govori o strašnoj oluji koja ih je zahvatila i gotovo potopila u Adriji (tj. Jadranu). Spas od brodoloma mornari tada nađoše na pustom, šumovitom i nepoznatom otoku prepunom zmija, od kojih je, prema predanju, jedna ugrizla u ruku sv. Pavla, ali je on baci u vatru... tek kad se spasismo, doznamo da se otok zove Melita.
Urođenici se poniješe prema nama vrlo ljudski. Sve nas primiše k velikoj vatri koju bijahu naložili zbog kiše što je padala i zbog zime. Kad Pavao nakupi naramak suhih grana i kad ga baci na vatru, iziđe zmija natjerana od vrućine te mu se uhvati za ruku. Urođenici, kad vidješe da mu zmija visi o ruci, govorahu jedan drugome: Ovaj je čovjek sigurno ubojica, umakao je moru i Pravda mu ne dopušta da živi. Ali on otrese zmiju u vatru i ne bi mu ništa zla. A oni su očekivali da će uteći i smjesta pasti mrtav. Pošto su dulje čekali i vidjeli da mu se nije dogodilo nikakvo zlo, promijeniše mišljenje i rekoše da je Bog...« (Djela apostolska, poglavlje 27. i 28.). Prema tradiciji, more je izbacilo brodolomce na malenu pučinsku hrid, koju starosjedioci Mljeta otad nazvaše škojem sv. Pavla. U predjelu Crkva ili Crkvina još postoje ostaci nepoznata kamena zida za koji u narodu kruži predaja kako je to od davnina temelj crkve sv. Pavla. 

EN

In front of you are the remains of two sacral buildings that traditionally bore the title of St. Paul. The first building is a single-nave presbytery with double apses, built in the 5.6th century. The second building is of a narrowed size, located inside the first, built in the 11/12 century.
According to the stone material and masonry structures, archaeologists conclude that the building material of Villae Rusticae from the "Žara" site from Roman times was used.

The Church of St. Paul is associated with the shipwreck and the salvation of St. Paul on the island of "Melita" in the Adriatic Sea, and is mentioned in the Bible, in the Acts of the Apostles, chapters 27 and 28.

According to tradition, saving himself from a great storm and shipwreck, St. Paul ran aground with his ship on the southeast coast of the island of Mljet. In the Žara field near the town of Korita, a part of the islanders are still called Crkva or Crkvina, and there is a popular legend that this has long been the area of ​​the church of Sv. Paul. The old people of Mljet say that the church was built in honor of the Apostle Paul, who stayed on Mljet for three months after the shipwreck in 61.

Describing his legendary journey from Jerusalem to Rome, the apostle Paul speaks of a terrible storm that engulfed them and nearly submerged them in the Adriatic (i.e., the Adriatic). The sailors then found salvation from the shipwreck on a deserted, wooded and unknown island full of snakes, one of which, according to legend, bit into the hand of St. Paul, but he threw her into the fire ... only when we were saved did we find out that the island was called Melita.
The natives treated us very humanely. He brought us all to the great fire which they had kindled because of the falling rain and because of the winter. When Paul gathered a handful of dry branches and threw it into the fire, a serpent came out, driven by the heat, and took his hand. The natives, when they saw the serpent hanging on his hand, said to one another: This man must be a murderer, he has escaped the sea and Justice does not allow him to live. But he shook the snake into the fire and would do him no harm. And they expected him to flee and immediately fall dead. After they had waited a long time and saw that no evil had happened to him, they changed their minds and said that God was ... ”(Acts, chapters 27 and 28). According to tradition, the sea threw the shipwrecked people on a small open sea cliff, which the natives of Mljet have since called the school of St. Paul. In the area of ​​Crkva or Crkvina, there are still the remains of an unknown stone wall, for which there is a legend that this has been the foundation of the church of Sv. Paul.