I Climbed the Mountain

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016--Cetinje

It was sunny today, but a spell of rain is coming if the forecast is right.  I had originally planned to go to museums today, but I changed my mind based on the forecast.

There is a grave on top of the mountain just to the south of Cetinje.  It is the burial spot for a famous bishop from the 1600s, Vladiko Danilo, and the site has good views of the city.  I decided to climb up before it got to warm.  First, I took the wrong path.  After finding myself about half way up, I was at a dead end.  An elderly man up there sunbathing himself indicated I needed to go back down and around to another path.  So I did that.  Then it was quite a steep climb, but on a nice paved pathway.  At the top, the grave site was nothing special.  But there were wonderful views of the town and the mountains in the distance as well as toward the mountains of Lovcen National Park which is nearby.

Back in town, I visited two small churches which are both dedicated to the Virgin Mary.  One of them, the Cipur Church, has the tombs of King Nicola, his Queen, and the founder of Cetinje inside.  The other, Vlaska Church, is mainly interesting because of its iron fence which was made from several thousand rifle barrels captured from the Ottoman soldiers as they were forced out of the area.

I wandered the streets more, finding several more of the old embassies I had missed yesterday.   The French one is quite unique, and the plaque at the building says that it was often joked that the design for the Cairo embassy for France got sent here by mistake.  The British embassy has been restored nicely.  Here are more photos of former embassies here.

I thought I had seen most of the town yesterday, but I also found the present home (probably his second home, since Podgorica is now the capital) of the President of Montenegro with its guards and the former seat of government building which is now the National Museum.

Because of all the former government buildings and of the famous monastery here, Cetinje gets lots of tourists.  Most, however, are day tourists.  The tour buses come and go all day long with crowds of visitors following their guides around the town.

By the evening, there were big crowds at the cafes downtown.  Apparently Saturday night is still a night to go downtown here in Cetinje.  I bought a slice of pizza and ate it while I watched people.  Then I returned to the hotel as it started to get darker and turn cool.