Montenegro

Europe
Southeastern Europe, between the Adriatic Sea and Serbia.

42 30 N, 19 18 E

President Filip Vujanović	Prime Minister Igor Lukšić

Capital
Podgorica

Government
Parliamentary republic

Religion
Orthodox 74.2%, Muslim 17.7%, Catholic 3.5%, other 0.6%, unspecified 3%, atheist 1%.

Population
666,730

Ethnic group
43% Montenegrin, 32% Serb, 12% Bosniak and Ethnic Muslim, 5% Albanian, 8% others.

National Language                   
Montenegrin

National Day
13 July (1878)

Anthem
Oj, svijetla majska zoro "Oh, Bright Dawn of May"

Currency
Euro (€)2 (EUR)

Attractions
Ada Bojana,  Kolašin town,  Ostrog monastery,  Peaks of Durmitor,  Ulcinj 

Website    

Art & Cultural

The ICON

Ostrog Monastery The Monastery of Ostrog (Serbian Cyrillic: Манастир Острог; Tr. Manastir Ostrog) is a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church placed against an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock of Ostroška Greda, in Montenegro. It is dedicated to Saint Basil of Ostrog (Sveti Vasilije Ostroški). From the monastery, a superb view of the Bjelopavlići plain can be seen. Ostrog, monastery is the most popular pilgrimage place in Montenegro. The Monastery was founded by Vasilije, the Metropolitan Bishop of Herzegovina in the 17th century. He died there in 1671 and some years later he was glorified. His body is enshrined in a reliquary kept in the cave-church dedicated to the Presentation of the Mother of God to the Temple. The present-day look was given to the Monastery in 1923-1926, after a fire which had destroyed the major part of the complex. Fortunately, the two little cave-churches were spared and they are the key areas of the monument. The frescoes in the Church of the Presentation were created towards the end of the 17th century. The other church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is placed within a cave on the upper level of the monastery and was painted by master Radul, who successfully coped with the natural shapes of the cave and laid the frescoes immediately on the surface of the rock and the south wall. Around the church are the monastic residences, which together with the church building and the scenery make this monument outstandingly beautiful.