- Beauty of old Montenegro -

Foreword

Lake Skadar, Crnojevica River, Cetinje with the legendary Cetinje Monastery, Njegusi and Lovčenski serpentines with 29 curves and majestic panoramas. It is in these beautiful places the independence of “good old” Montenegro preserved.

This is a route that passes through the places where Montenegrin statehood was born.

We drive from the former border with the Ottoman Empire, which ran through Lake Skadar, to the former border with Venice and later with Austria-Hungary, which ran at the foot of the Lovcen Mountains. The route follows the old road built by the Austro-Hungarian architect Joseph Slade. From this road we see the most picturesque landscapes of the Lake Skadar National Park and the Crnojevica River. If you wish, you can take part in a real river safari by taking a boat trip on the Crnojevica River. Enamel storks and herons fly alongside you, river fish splash around. We can have lunch in a fish restaurant or a national meat restaurant or just have a small picnic in the picturesque countryside.

From Lake Skadar National Park our route leads to the royal capital of the “throne” Cetinje. The heyday of Cetinje fell on the era of King Nikola at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. In Cetinje there is the City Museum, which preserves the spirit of ancient Montenegro.

We will be able to visit the Cetinje Monastery, which keeps the large communal Christian shrine of the right hand of John the Baptist. In the building of the Art Museum next to the monastery (the former house of the royal government) there is a shrine no less important for all Christians - the Philermo Icon of the Mother of God. According to legend, during the lifetime of the Mother of God, the Apostle Luke painted this icon directly from her face ..

After Cetinje, which is located at an altitude of 700 meters above sea level, we start climbing Mount Lovcen to the national park of the same name. This mountain range is decorated with 2 peaks: Shtirovnik (1749 m) and Jezersky vrh (1657 m). One of these peaks overlooks the Bay of Kotor and the Adriatic Sea, the second overlooks the famous "Sea of Stone" - the Montenegrin territory covered with numerous mountains. There are more than 70 peaks with a height of 1 km or more, and all of them will be under your feet.... It takes your breath away from both the first and second panoramas.

It is said that Montenegro got its name here when the Venetians sailed into the Bay of Kotor and saw the Lovcen massif dominating the bay.

Lovcen was black from the forests that covered its slopes. It was customary among the Venetians to call this mountainous land above Kotor “Monte Negro”.

Next we visit the village of Neguschi in Lovcen. The famous Montenegrin prosciutto is made here. If you want, you can try this delicacy directly in the “Suschara” (the place where it is smoked and dried), and if you like it, then buy yourself a “real” cut or a huge piece of prosciutto as a souvenir.

At the end, descending from Lovcen towards the Bay of Kotor, we have a breathtaking serpentine with 29 turns of 180 ° and photo breaks with the most beautiful panoramas of the Bay of Kotor. The sunset will be closer, the picture of the sea and the bay will be more beautiful and more beautiful..