Travel around 2 be happy: Montenegro day 12: Manuel's 1000th selfie

Thursday, 13th October 2022

We took our time to wake-up and enjoyed the view from our balcony onto the Bay of Budva and the Adriatic Sea.

Today we are heading to Cetinje, the old capital of Montenegro. Parking wasn't difficult, there is a big car park near the monastery and it has no guard at this time of the year so free parking it was.

Cetinje was founded in 1482 and became Montenegro's royal capital until 1946. During Prince Nikola I Petrović's reign (1860-1918), many embassies were built that give Cetinje today's specific looks. Not much has changed since the early 20th century.

The city has a very relaxed feel, lots of people seating in cafés and not much happening. I think people of Cetinje are into 'slow-living'.

Former French Embassy, 1910

Ministry of Culture

Museum of the Central Bank of Montenegro (Crnogorska Banka), in the building of the Montenegrin Bank, founded in 1906.

Music Academy, in the old British Embassy, 1912.

The Biljarda, built in 1838, was the residence of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. Initially called 'The new house', soon it got a new name 'Biljarda', after the game of billiards, the monarch's favourite game. It was the royal residence until 1867. Currently it is part of the National Museum of Montenegro.

King Nikola's Palace was built in 1863-1867 and for more than 50 years served as the seat of the royal family. Currently part of the Nacional Museum of Montenegro.

Blue Palace (Plavi Dvorac) was built in 1895 for the heir of the throne, Danilo, and used until 1916. Currently, it is the official residence of Montenegro's president.

Government House (Vladin Dom) was built in 1910 to house the Montenegrin Parliament, but it also housed a post office, a printing house and even a temporary theatre. Nowadays, it houses the Nacional Museum of Montenegro.

A beautiful scarab at the Njegošev Park.

Mid-morning coffee to cheer us up: 'Start the day with a smile', the cup reads in Italian.

Castle Church

The Monastery of Crnojević was built when Cetinje was first founded by Ivan Crnojević in 1484. It was last demolished by invading powers in 1692 and parts taken to build the new Monastery of Cetinje.

In the place of the ruined monastery, a church was built with a cupola at the centre of the old monastery in 1886 as a kind of a memorial court church.

Monastery of Cetinje or Monastery of St Peter

Built in 1701 with parts taken from the ruined Monastery of Crnojević, it became the centre of spiritual, cultural and political life in Montenegro. It has been destroyed several times by the Turks and subsequently restored by the Montenegrins, last restoration was in 1925-27.

The amount of police cars in front of the monastery tells us that the monastery is not usually shrouded in national flags. Manuel remembers seeing on the tv that there were some kind of protests here the day before. So the monastery is still, indeed, the spiritual and political centre of Montenegro.

We weren't stopped and no one approached us so we went in. No photography allowed inside and, as in the Monastery of Ostrog, a few monks sitting around talking and praying. I said 'Hello' and got a head-nod in return.

The small church with wall paintings is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and houses the relics of St Peter of Cetinje in a coffin (closed - so, whether these relics are inside or not, I am none the wiser). The graves of some Montenegrin monarchs are also here.

I'm not sure what this is but it was in front of the monastery with great mountain views.

Mausoleum of Vladika Danilo at Eagle's Rock

From the monastery there is a trail that leads to the mausoleum and takes less than 15min to walk.

The mausoleum is located at the top of the Orlov krs mountain and was built in 1897 to honour Danilo I Petrović-Njegoš. He was the Metropolitan of Cetinje between 1697-1735, and the founder of the house of Petrović-Njegoš, which ruled Montenegro from 1697-1918.

From the mausoleum you get great views over Cetinje and the mountains of the Lovćen NP.

Lunch at Gradska Cetinje Hotel. We sat outside under maple trees. The sandwiches were ok, the cakes were great, the total was €33.60.

Following the Panoramic Road # 3 towards the coast and the Bay of Budva via the M2.3 road. This road will take you to the east slope of the Bay of Budva. On Google maps, there is a point marked as 'Viewpoint on Budva' with a very good view towards the bay. I would recommend to stop there. Alas, it was too cloudy for a good photograph.

Manuel has been obsessed with selfies. I was getting fed up so decided to crash one of them.

The Panoramic Road then continues eastbound on the E80 road, effectively driving you along the Budva Riviera (Budvanska Rivijera). The Budva Riviera is a 35km strip of the Adriatic coast with 21km of beaches, stretching from Ploce Beach (Plaža Ploće) in the west to Buljarica Beach (Plaža Buljarica) in the east. Nowadays, the Budva Riviera is the most popular Montenegrin beach holiday destination.

The last stop of the day was Sveti Stefan, which is roughly in the middle of the Budva Riviera.

We parked high on the hill before descending to Sveti Stefan beach because at the bottom there is paid parking. We walked down a set of stairs leading to the south tip of the beach.

Sveti Stefan is best known for the picturesque islet that literally bulges out of Sveti Stefan beach via a narrow isthmus which arcs out into two perfectly formed beaches. Sveti Stefan beach has pink pebbles and clear turquoise waters.

During the Venetian rule of the area, this islet had a great strategic-trade significance but, by the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, that was gone. In the late 50s it was turned into a unique town-hotel that achieved its high in the 70s attracting jetsetters and Hollywood stars, to decline again in the 90s after the fall of Yugoslavia. In early 2007, Aman Resorts took over the islet and Sveti Stefan is back to being an exclusive luxury resort.

It's easier to see the pink pebbles in contrast with the bordeaux of my trainers.

The walkway on the isthmus.

The door of the resort was tightly shut.

The best views towards Sveti Stefan is from the Church of St Sava in Radenovici, which has an amazing viewpoint, a rocky road to get there and no tourists.

The church looking onto the Bay of Budva and Sveti Nikola Island (Ostrvo Sveti Nikola):