Manasija and Ravanica

In the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries Serbian rulers built a series of monasteries in what is called the Morava style, with churches of banded stone and brick carrying dense carved ornament around the windows, and because the times were dangerous they wrapped them in serious fortification. Manasija, founded by Despot Stefan Lazarević, is the most striking: a church standing inside a curtain wall with eleven towers, entered through a gate, so that the effect is of a castle containing a church. Its frescoes, painted by the best workshop of the day, are among the highest achievements of medieval Serbian art despite heavy losses. Ravanica, a little to the south, is older and has the same combination of walls and painting, with an unusually elegant church beneath its fortifications.

What to look for

• Manasija's walls and towers - the eleven-tower fortification around the church.
• The Manasija frescoes - the surviving painting of the Morava school at its peak.
• Ravanica - the older fortified monastery with its carved church.
• The Morava style - banded stone and brick with dense carved window ornament.

When to go

April to October is mildest; both are working monasteries and open daily, with services taking priority. The Resava cave and the Lisine waterfall are close to Manasija and make a full day together. Modest dress is required at both.

Things to know

A great deal of the fresco painting has been lost at Manasija, and what survives is high on the walls and dim, so it takes patience and good light to appreciate. These are active monasteries, not museums, with dress rules and limits on photography. They are two hours from Belgrade in the interior and need a car to combine comfortably.

Nearby

The Resava cave and Lisine waterfall are near Manasija; Ravanica lies south towards Ćuprija.