Heritage Site in Brankovina

It is the birth place of many notable dukes, statesmen, priests and numerous historical persons from the Nenadović family, as well as the poetess Desanka Maksimović. In Brankovina there is a heritage site whose focal point is the Church of the Saint Archangels with the church treasury dating back to 18^th  and 19^th century. Close to the church walls there are graves of the Nenadović family, and a litlle further there is the grave of the poetess Desanka Maksimović.

Near the schools there is also the school scriptorium, Nenadović outbuilding in which the writer Ljubomir Nenadović, the youngest son of Archpriest Mateja was born as well as the replica of the Nenadović house, with the appropriate museum exhibition.

The new, permanent exhibition was opened on October 30  2020. Exposition starts with the history of schooling and education in Serbia in the period from 1800 to 1894 encompassing the foundation of the Great School in Belgrade in 1808. A special accent is placed on the history of the Old school, displayed in its corridor, that is, on the period of time between 1836 when the construction of the school started to 1894 when the construction of Desanka’s school was finished.

It is made up of three parts: materials donated by the poetess herself, objects lent for display by the family Petrović- Milakara and the photographs donated to the museum by Dragiša Medenica who had followed her work for decades in her birthplace. Desanka’s life is presented as well as the privacy of her study.

The visitors can see the original pieces of furniture: the bed on which Desanka Maksimović wrote, the coffee table with four chairs which the poetess bought from her first royalties, the bookcase with books and decorative figurines. They can also see her clothes items which she wore: a tweed suit, scarves, an evening gown, the bags she wore every day and on special occasions and Desanka’s hats which were her trademark. The last but not the least, her jewelry and perfume bottles are also on display. 

A replica of the Nenadović house in which they lived in the 19th century, with six rooms, was built in 2004. The permanent exhibition was opened on October 26th 2019 and since then it has been open for visitors to the Heritage site in Brankovina.

The exhibition contains a historical and an ethnological section. In the historical section, the history of the family Nenadović is presented, including their settling in Valjevo region and the family tree of the entire Nenadović family. The ethnological section of the exhibition contains the details from everyday life of the period, low round dining table, tools, weapons, male and female national costumes and other items.