Cetinje

Located in the southernmost province of Montenegro, Cetinje is a city that has a long history and it also the place where the nation’s President has his official place of residence. In the past, this was the capital of Montenegro and today it is still considered to be something of a second capital, behind the largest city Podgorica. It is here that the Black Mountain from which the country of Montenegro gets its name was discovered. On this small limestone plain there is also the nearby Mount Lovcen, a famous ecological tourist area. There are nearly 18,500 citizens in the municipality today with a full 15,000 living within the city of Cetinje itself. Founded in the 1400’s, this is one city that has played a very important role in shaping the country.

Home to a mix of ethnicities of both Montenegrins and the vastly outnumbered Serbs, Cetinje is not as well known for its nightlife as it is for its spiritual and cultural offerings. This is the city that people decide to visit when they want to get a glimpse into the history of Montenegro itself. Despite the fact that there is a large proportion of young adults in this city, Cetinje has a lot of older buildings such as the Vlaska Church which features a fence constructed from the rifle barrels of defeated invaders, Biljarda, Cetinje Monastery, older embassies and other administrative facilities and even the Zetski Dom Montenegrin Royal National Theatre. The Ostrog Monastery is also located not far from Cetinje and the famous Lipska Pecina, a cave that can be explored by private arrangement that is one of the largest in the region. In addition to all of this there are repositories of Montenegrin culture in Cetinje that are renowned for their vast collections of literature and important objects. Places such as the National Museum of Montenegro, the Durde Crnojevic Central National Library, the Republic Institute for Preserving Cultural Heritage and the Archives of Montenegro all serve to keep strong records of this nation’s past and span a time period of 500 years worth of cultural relics.

This is also the place where the Eparchy of Montenegro and the Littoral is established as a crucial part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, one of the most prominent religious organizations within the nation. Not only are the people here spiritual, they are extremely literate and have been for decades, proving to be an intellectual center for this area of the world. The libraries in this city have a very long history as does the printing industry. At one time there were six different news publications being circulated in Cetinje each day when it’s entire population was only 6,000. In the Njegos reading room of the City Library alone there are more than 60,000 books available. This, combined with the fact that there are a full seven different public museums in this city prove that the people here are dedicated to developing and preserving culture for Montenegro.

Visitors who will be flying in from around the world have the option of landing at one of Montenegro’s two international airports located in Tivat or Podgorica. The capital city, Podgorica is 55 kilometers away, but Tivat is 5 kilometers closer.

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