In the summer of 2017, under the walls of the magnificent Manasija monastery in Serbia, an important event for the whole HMB community took place – a large-scale medieval festival with spectacular HMB battles “Just Out Festival”. It was attended by 430 participants from more than 17 countries and by around 100 000 spectators!

Almost 600 years ago, the Serbian King Stefan Lazarevich built this monastery – one of the most beautiful medieval buildings in Europe with the Church of the Holy Trinity, 11 towers and 139 loopholes.

The construction of the monastery took place in difficult times for Serbia – after the Battle on the Kosovo Field in 1389, when the troops of Serbian feudal lords with the Bosnian kingdom came to fight the Ottoman Empire. Losses from both sides were monstrous. As a result, the Turkish army, having won and Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.

Nevertheless, even being occupied, Serbs did not lose and also rapidly developed their culture. An important social and cultural processes took place inside the monastery walls.

In the Middle Ages the monastery was the largest literary center where translation and copying of Orthodox books was carried out. Further books spread throughout Europe, strengthening Christianity and ridding the world of ignorance.

The monastic library consisted of more than 20 thousand books at the days of its height.

At the beginning of the 19th century, during the Serbian uprising, the monastery was almost completely destroyed, but in the middle of the 19th century, there began work to restore it. Now the monastery has regained its former external appearance. Currently, the monastery is being restored, and the works are planned to be completed in 2018.

The organizers of the “Јust Out festival” said that their event restores the traditional values cultivated in the monastery for centuries and opens a secret code of Eastern Serbia.

The editorial office of HMBIA News wishes the «Јust Out festival» orgteam success in the development of their offspring.

HMBIA News