Despot Stefan Lazarević founded the monastery as his mausoleum, with construction from 1406 to 1418. The founding charter has not survived and the master builder is not named. The church was consecrated on Pentecost in 1418, about 1.2 miles (2 km) northwest of Despotovac.
The church is ashlar stone in the Morava school, with a floral inscribed cross plan combined with a trefoil. A twelve-sided central dome stands on four free-standing pillars, with four small corner domes. Walls with 11 towers surround it, and the largest, the Despot's Tower, is north of the church.
Frescoes originally covered about 21,500 square feet (2,000 m²). Sources conflict: one says a quarter survived, another that two-thirds were lost. It was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979.
Comments