is the Despot's "endowment and eternal home, Manasija in Resava". Jovan Mišković (1844– 1908) likewise believes that Despot Stefan was buried in Manasija Monastery. The monastery of Resava is the resting place of Despot Stefan also for the Croatian academician and geographer Petar Matković (1830–1898): interpreting the travel account of Feliks Petančić (c. 1455–1517), he explains:
"According to the Serbian chronicles, Ressava is a monastery on the river of the same name; Despot Stjepan built it and enclosed it with a strong fortress (in the year 1407); there Stjepan resided during his lifetime, gathered learned men, and there too is his grave, which our travel writer also recalls."
According to Lazar Mirković, before the canonization of the Holy Despot at the beginning of the 20th century, Manasija was regarded as the burial place of Saint Despot Stefan. Domestic historians and researchers of our past assumed throughout the 20th century that the burial place of Despot Stefan was located in the church of Manasija. Finally, archaeological research at the very beginning of the 21st century gave the definitive answer to the question of the resting place of the founder of Manasija. During the archaeological investigations in the nave of the monastery's Church of the Holy Trinity, carried out in 2006, a secret was uncovered that had rested in silence for centuries. Along the south wall of the western bay, where the tradition of medieval Serbia reserved the place for founders' tombs, the grave of Saint Despot Stefan Lazarević was found. Beneath the layers of history - stone slabs from the 19th century and bricks laid during the Austrian rule of 1718–1739 - the bedding of the original floor of lime mortar was uncovered. There, in the southern part of the bay, a grave pit came to light. In it, beneath regularly laid bricks, parts of the skeleton of the Holy Despot were found. Along with the bones of the deceased, laid in anatomical order, traces of fabric were found, most probably silk, interwoven with gold and silver thread, as well as the remains of a wooden coffin, confirmed by iron nails. No grave goods were found, which leaves open the possibility that the Despot's grave was desecrated. It is possible that it was devastated as early as 1439, when Manasija Monastery was conquered and suffered under the Ottoman assaults. The place in the nave, along the south wall of the western bay, was, according to established medieval rules and customs, reserved for founders. In the same position in their endowments rested the rulers of the Nemanjić dynasty, as well as the parents of Despot Stefan, Prince Lazar and Princess Milica. There is no basis for supposing that this rule was broken where the Holy Despot is concerned. Constantine the Philosopher testifies that Despot Stefan, after his sudden death on July 19, 1427, was carried to his endowment, in which he had earlier prepared a grave for himself, and where he had commanded that he be buried. The archaeological finds and the results