The Mountains of Montenegro. Rudolf Abraham

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      Fortifications above Kotor (Route 4)

      There is evidence of human habitation on the Balkan peninsula from as early as 65,000BC, and plenty has been uncovered from the Neolithic period (7000–3000BC). From around 800BC many areas of the eastern Adriatic were inhabited by the Illyrians, tribes of Indo-European origin. During the early sixth century BC the Greeks began establishing settlements and trading posts on the Adriatic coast, and during the fourth century BC the Celts expanded southwards into the region. During the third century BC the Ardiaei, an Illyrian tribe on the southern Adriatic coast, emerged as a major power in the region, first under King Agron and then Queen Teuta. The Ardiaei, and subsequently other Illyrian tribes further north, were attacked and defeated by Rome, leading to the establishment of Roman Illyricum, later divided into Pannonia and Dalmatia. Roman Illyricum was destroyed by the Huns during the fourth century AD.

      The Slavs arrived during the sixth century AD, the earliest Slavonic realm on the Adriatic being an area around the Bay of Kotor and Lake Skadar, known as Zeta. Among the Slavic tribes to enter the region were the Serbs, who arrived in the seventh century, settling around the area of inland Montenegro and the modern plain of Kosovo, an area known as Raška. Zeta and subsequently Raška rose to prominence from the ninth century, and during the 12th–14th centuries the medieval Serbian state, under the Nemanja dynasty, attained true artistic and political greatness. This was extinguished by the advance of the Ottoman Turks during the 14th century, who defeated the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian armies on the plains of Kosovo in 1389.

      During the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans Montenegro began to develop its own religious and cultural identity, distinct from that of Serbia, under the Crnojević dynasty, who established a small semi-independent principality in the area inland from the coastal ranges, with its capital at Cetinje. From 1516 its rulers, known as Vladikas, were elected from the monastery at Cetinje. From the end of the 17th century power was passed from uncle to nephew, remaining in the hands of the Petrović dynasty. Montenegrin resistance to Ottoman rule was determined, and Ottoman recognition of Montenegro came in 1789, under the ruler Petar I Petrović Njegoš. Petar II Petrović Njegoš, who came to power in 1830, played an important role in organizing central government; he was also a great poet, whose masterpiece, Gorski Vijenac (‘The Mountain Wreath’), was printed in 1847 Under Prince Nikola Petrović Montenegro increased its territory, these gains being recognized by the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878. Montenegro’s first constitution was introduced in 1905.

      At the end of the First World War Montenegro became the only Allied country to lose its independence, becoming instead a part of Serbia – and of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which was proclaimed in 1918. In 1945, following the end of the Second World War, Montenegro (along with Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Macedonia) became part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, under Tito. With the collapse of Yugoslavia and the war between Serbia and Croatia in the 1990s, Montenegro sided with Serbia. Following this conflict, and the war in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro maintained the name Yugoslavia, but from 2002 this confederation was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In May 2006 Montenegro held a referendum and voted for independence from Serbia. The EU began accession talks with Montenegro in 2012, however such a step as EU membership is likely to be several years away.

Culture

      What shows so white on the green mountainside? Is it snow, is it swans on the mountain?

      From the ballad The Wife of Asan-aga’ (translated by A Pennington and P Levi)

      Montenegro is certainly not short on literary tradition, and one of the earliest printing presses in the Balkans was established at Obod, near Cetinje, in the 1490s, under Ivan Crnojević’s son Ðurađ.

      The ballads and epic poems of the Kosovo Cycle constitute one of the great treasures of European folk literature. These first came to the attention of Western Europe when a selection were published in the Italian edition of the Venetian traveller Alberto Fortis’ Travels into Dalmatia (1774), and adaptations were later made by Goethe, Walter Scott, Mérimée and Pushkin. The definitive editions are those by Vuk Karadžić, culminating in his magnum opus, Serbian Folk Poems (4 vols., Vienna, 1841–62). One of the best English translations of the Kosovo Cycle is that by Anne Pennington and Peter Levi, Marko the Prince (London: Duckworth, 1984).

      The magnum opus of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, Gorski Vijenac (‘The Mountain Wreath’), written in 1846 and published in Vienna in 1847, remains the Montenegrin national epic.

      Some of the more notable buildings and monuments in Montenegro include:

      Morača Monastery (Church of Sv. Bogorodica)

      About 5km south of the turn-off to Šavnik, on the main road (E-80) between Kolašin and Podgorica. Founded 1251 by Stephen (‘The First Crowned’). The earliest frescoes date from around 1260, and are a fine example of the so-called ‘Raška’ school of the 13th century; they include the Annunciation and scenes from the life of St Elijah (Sv. Ilija). Other frescoes are mostly from the 16th–17th centuries. Among the many fine icons is one of Saints Symeon and Sava, with scenes from the life of Sv. Sava.

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