Manasija

Manasija (Serbian Cyrillic: Манасија, Serbian pronunciation: [manǎsija]), also known as Resava (Ресава, [rɛ̌saʋa]), is a Serbian Orthodox monastery near Despotovac, Serbia, founded by Despot Stefan Lazarević between 1406 and 1418. The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It is one of the most significant monuments of medieval Serbian culture and it belongs to the "Morava school". The monastery is surrounded by massive walls and towers. Immediately following its foundation, the monastery became the cultural centre of the Serbian Despotate. Its School of Resava was well known for its manuscripts and translations throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, even after the fall of the Despotate to the Ottoman Turks. Manasija complex was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia, and monastery have entered a UNESCO Tentative List Process in 2010.

Architecture and history

The founding charter of the monastery has not been preserved. The Manasija Monastery, also known as Resava, was built two kilometres northwest from the town of Despotovac, in the picturesque ravine. Construction of the monumental mausoleum and the fortified town lasted about a decade, with breaks. During this period, a church, large refectory, lodgings, adjacent buildings, towers and walls, fortifications with protective walls and trenches were constructed.

…across hills and fields and deserts he went looking for a place on which to build the desired family, the silent home. Having found the most suitable and the best site to build the home and having said a prayer, he approached the task and laid the foundations in the name of the Holy Trinity, universal Divinity…" (Constantine the Philosopher, 1433)

Monastery founder Despot Stefan built Manasija to serve as his mausoleum; in its grandeur, his resting place surpassed everything ever built in the Pomoravlje. The monumental and imposing Church of Manasija, together with the contemporary monuments (Ravanica, Ljubostinja, Kalenić, Gornjak, Pavlica…), bear witness to the last great...