Manasija Monastery

Manasija monastery place you must visit. Hostorical place. Very rich history of Serbian people, 600 years. Read some info about it on internet before you make a visit so you could pay attention to it and experience in a right way. Magnificente!

Beautiful 15th century monastery surrounded by an impressive fortress. Stunning frescoes. Definitely worth a visit.

My favorite monastery. This monastery is so quiet and peaceful, you can feel some special energy. Very nice, very nice architecture. Definitely I will come back.

Clean, quiet, peaceful place, surrounded by nature, large parking space, all recommendations

Very nice monastery! Unfortunately we didn't have luck to enter to fortress tower it was closed.

Fantastic Serbian monastery risen in year 1418 with church of Holy Trinity in the middle.

One of the oldest and most impressive monasteries from the Middle ages. Built in 15th century, along with the surrounding originafortress walls. It's definitely a must visit for anyone who lives in or visits Central Serbia. There is also a gift shop where you can get a few things to remember your visit by, including plumb or quince brandy or honey, all made by the resident monks.

Historic gem and religious snactionary. Worth a visit ❤

The Manasija also known as Resava, 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.
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.
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 artistic achievement of Morava's Serbia.
The refectory was built parallel to the church, and is one of the largest known structures in medieval Serbia, which was completely covered in frescoes. The monastery compound was encircled and protected by strong walls with eleven towers and trenches. The Church of Manasija Monastery was consecrated on the Feast of Pentecost in 1418, after about 2,000 square metres of frescoes had been painted. Only a quarter of the paintings survived, but even these are among the most beautiful in the outstandingly rich treasure of old Serbian painting.
During the five centuries of Ottoman presence, the monastery was abandoned and wrecked several times. The lead roof was removed from the church, and so for over a century the frescoes inside were subject to damage by rainfall. As a result, about two-thirds of them were irremediably lost. In the 18th century, the western part of the church - the narthex - was heavily damaged in an explosion and was later rebuilt. The mosaic floor of that part of the church was preserved.
Architecturally, the church belongs to the Morava school. The ground plan is in the form of a floral inscribed cross, combined with a trefoil. The twelve-sided dome above the central space rests on four free-standing pillars. At the eastern end, there are one large and two small apses, whereas two large choir conches flank the altar. Above the corners of the church, there are four little octagonal domes. The narthex consists of nine bays. Above the central bay, there is yet another dome that rests on four pillars.
On the inside, the original floor has been preserved in the narthex, made of marble tiles in various colours. Nearly half of the frescoes have been destroyed. Despot Stefan is portrayed with the church model on the left-hand wall. The lower register of the north choir depicts warrior-saints in armour with swords and lances, as an authentic representation of contemporaneous soldiers. There are also 24 portraits of the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs in the spacious dome.
The Monastery fortress, made up to defend the monastery, consists of 11 towers linked with huge walls and once, with trenches.
An archaeological team from the UK led by Marin Brmbolićlocated the remains of a person whom some claim to be Despot Stefan Lazarević in the southwestern part of the monastery floor. DNA comparison with the remains of his father, Knez Lazar, confirmed that the remains belong to two closely related individuals. However, there is no doubt that Stefan's brother Vuk was buried in Manasija and the remains could as well easily be his.

I could describe this monastery with lot of words but until you visit this place by yourself it's not going to be enough.
Walls surrounding this monastery are looking so monumental.
And then you step within the walls. The site of the monastery is the first thing you see. And it's marvelous. Monastery is looking fantastic. It was damaged many times and it was rebuilt over and over. Very old. Inside of the monastery is very beautiful.
Very calm and peaceful place.
There is a souvenir store where you can buy lots of things for reasonable prices.
For every recommendation.

Beautiful monastery. Photos weren't allowed inside

One of the most important historical and religious landmarks. It is a restored fortification from the 15th century with the monastery taking the center point. Definitely worth a visit.

Another great medieval place. Gives your imagination a lot to work with. It was harder to leave than i could imagine, a place of such great spirit.

Its amazing place. It have brutal strong walls, lots of massive towers. Its amazing to try imagine how some medieval army attacking it. Its covered by climbing plants and look very romantic. In the middle is beatiful church.
And at the end of August is here bigest midleage festival in eastern Europe.

Manasija or Resava Monastery is one of the most significant monuments of Serbian medieval culture and the most significant building belonging to the so-called Moravian school. The monastery is the endowment of despot Stefan Lazarevic, whose relics are in the church. Her school in Resava was a copying workshop, a source of written works and translations throughout the 15th and 16th centuries.

A 600+ year old monastery surrounded by a castle used to fend off the Ottoman Empire. Amazing place of great historical and cultural value!

Even better if you happen to come by in the end of August when the Knight Tournament - "Just Out" is! :)

One of the most beautiful orthodox monasteries in Serbia. If you want to visit towers and wall, you have to pay 5€ per person but we think it was worth it.

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[1] 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.

Definitely one of the holy places you have got to visit when in Serbia. It gives the medieval vibes. You can climb on the walls and towers for the amazing view.

This is beautiful place and one of landmarks in Serbia. History of one period frozen in one place. Nature is beautiful and fortress is magnificent.