Welcome to the Spiritual Montenegro Tour

We start from our Spiritual Montenegro tour meeting point at 8:30 am.

To reach the Old Royal Capital Cetinje, we drive via Budva and make our first photo stop, enjoying the beautiful panorama of the Budva Riviera from the mountains above.

At 9:45 a.m., we arrive at Cetinje, the former capital and true treasure of Montenegrin cultural and historical heritage. The town’s architecture appears to be trapped in the 19th and 20th centuries, and concerted efforts are being made to keep it that way.

First, we enter the small Court Church of Ćipur, built by the last Montenegrin King Nikola I, in 1890. It was built on the remains of the first Monastery in Cetinje in 1484 by the town’s founder, Ivan Crnojević. Nowadays, this church serves as a mausoleum for the King’s and Queen’s remains.

As we walk further, we come to the Monastery of Cetinje. It is the legacy of Ivan Crnojevic, who ruled the state of Zeta at the end of the 15th century. For the last 500 years, this monastery has been the seat of all Montenegrin bishops.

In 1701, the Monastery was relocated and rebuilt in its current location. Even though the Turks destroyed it several times, the people continually rebuilt it. Inside are relics of Saint Peter of Cetinje, one of the illustrious patrons of Montenegrin history. There are also two more extremely revered relics—the right hand of St. John the Baptist and a shard of the Holy Cross on which Jesus was crucified.

The first primary and secondary schools in Montenegro were established in the Monastery. Petar II Petrovic Njegos (1813 – 1851), the most famous Montenegrin ruler and poet, operated a print shop and a workshop for producing zinc cannon balls. The Cetinje monastery also served as a mausoleum to the Petrovic Dynasty – including Prince Danilo Petrovic, his wife Darinka, daughter Olga, as well as the great Duke Mirko Petrovic, bishop Sava Petrovic and others.

Cetinje Monastery represents the spiritual and political seat of the Montenegrin people.
Time for a short walk to our breakfast break.

The Old Royal Capital holds one very important relic—”Filermosa,” an exceptionally valuable icon of the Virgin Mary decorated with ancient jewelry. The holy artifact traveled long distances through history to finally reach its resting place in Cetinje.

It is considered to be the first painting of the Mother of Christ by evangelist Luka in Jerusalem. The icon’s written history dates back to the 11th century.
It was long kept in the Ostrog Monastery. Today, it is located in the “Blue Chapel,” a specially designed room of the Art Museum of Montenegro (National Museum of Montenegro), only a few minutes walk from the Monastery of Cetinje.

After we finish our visit to Cetinje, we head towards the capital of Montenegro – Podgorica. It is Montenegro’s administrative, economic, cultural, and educational center. The city is located in the central part of the country. Before arriving, we’ll have an opportunity to see the biggest lake in the Balkans – Skadar Lake, 70% of which is in Montenegro (30% in Albania)

Our primary point of interest in Podgorica is the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ (Saborni Hram Hristovog Vakrsenja). We plan to arrive at midday and spend about 45 minutes there.

This is the biggest Orthodox Church in Podgorica and one of the newest in Montenegro. Construction began in 1993 and finished in 2012. In close proximity to the cathedral, there is an old Christian necropolis with foundations of a cathedral church dating from the first millennium. The temple is dominated by two 26.7-meter-high brick towers. The belfry houses 17 bells, the heaviest of which weighs around 11 tons—the largest in the Balkans.

An interesting bit of trivia: The frescos representing “Hell” were painted by Friedrich Engels, Carl Marx, and Tito, the lifelong president of Yugoslavia.

Around 1 pm, we begin the one-hour journey towards our final destination – Ostrog Monastery. It is one of the holiest sites in Orthodox Christianity and Southeast Europe’s most popular pilgrimage site.

The Monastery is dedicated to Saint Basil (SvetiVasijije) of Ostrog. From the monastery, you can see an amazing view of the Bjelopavlići plain. According to stories of pilgrims and many witnesses, after praying to his relics, numerous people have been cured or helped lessen their difficulties. It is a meeting place of all theologies: the Orthodox, Catholics, and Muslims have all come to pray for miracles in past centuries.

The Monastery was founded and built by Vasilije, the Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina, in the 17th century. He died there in 1671, and as his body never decomposed, he was glorified as a saint.
The present-day look was given to the Monastery in 1923-1926 after a fire destroyed the major part of the complex. Fortunately, the oldest two little cave churches were spared, and they are the focal points of the monument, holding the original 17th-century frescos.

We have one hour to explore and enjoy Ostrog Monastery and the surrounding views.

At around 3:00 p.m., we headed towards a nearby traditional restaurant in Bogetici to sample the best Montenegrin cuisine. At 4:30 p.m., we began our enjoyable and scenic return journey to Kotor, allowing for a few photo stops.

When applying, please consider that the return time could be later than proposed due to summer traffic jams and unpredictable delays on sights.

We always do our best to respect the schedule.

Thank you.

SEE YOU ON THE TOUR!