The Manasija Fortress

On the outer side of the Fortress of Manasija, in front of the ramparts and towers, stood yet another, outer wall of smaller dimensions. This lower outer defensive wall, about two meters away from the towers and ramparts, girded the entire main fortification, with the exception of the Little Town. The line of the outer wall follows the lines of the towers and ramparts and forms a defended space known as the covered way, between the main and the outer rampart, along which the defenders could move safely and unhindered. Although this wall is preserved today only in fragments, it is believed to have been topped by a crenellated wall-walk, while its former height remains unknown. On the outside the fortification is surrounded by a dry ditch about 17 meters wide, additionally reinforced by a wall - the counterscarp. On the northern side the ditch is today cut through by a modern road, but it is thought to have extended all the way to the Little Town. On the southern side of the Resava fortress the ditch has been filled in, so its original course is unknown. Such a defensive system allowed a multi-tiered defense of the monastery. Namely, the first obstacle to attackers was the great ditch with its counterscarp. If the enemy reached the ditch, the defenders could strike at them, endanger them and prevent the assault from the outer rampart - that is, from the first line of defense. Should the defense fail and the outer rampart be taken, the defenders could defend the monastery from the main rampart and towers - that is, from the second line of defense. If the attackers should break into the interior of the fortress, the last defense was the Despot's Tower, a completely independent fortification, unconnected with the system of towers and ramparts, accessible only from the interior of the fortification, and very probably by means of stairs or ladders that would be removed in such an event. A wooden bridge led across the ditch, connecting the first gate in the outer defensive wall with the fortress itself. From that point, passing through a second gate, one entered the monastery courtyard. The gates were specially defended - the gate of Manasija Monastery is set in the rampart between two towers, which gave it exceptional protection. Above the main gate there was once a double machicolation, an additional defensive element that bears witness to a carefully conceived strategy for the protection of the monastery. This complex system of defense, the result of a wise conception and its consistent realization, makes Manasija Monastery one of the greatest architectural and historical pearls of Serbian medieval culture.