#ostrog

The former capital of Montenegro, Cetinje, today preserves the 3 great Christian relics, and as such is the most important Montenegrin cultural, historical and spiritual center.

A beautiful mountainous town at the foot of the Lovcen mountain, which abounds in charm, attracts thousands of tourists because what Cetinje has to offer is rarely seen or felt. The spirit of old times, the energy of the old world is to date still completely preserved and lived here.

When you step into Cetinje, the history well-preserved in the Cetinje Monastery, the National Museum, and The Blue Palace, the Palace of King Nikola will literally enfold before your eyes…

And perhaps the most valuable is what Cetinje keeps in its heart ae the 3 great Christian relics. Just looking at them leaves one breathless.

The Three Great Christian Relics of immeasurable value

Since 1941 Montenegro has been the custodian of important religious relics:

The Icon of the Our Lady of Philermos – the oldest preserved icon in the world of Virgin Mary

The hand of St John The Baptist – who baptized Jesus Christ

Particles of the Holy Cross – part of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified

The relics are set in gold frames coated with brilliants, diamonds, rubies and sapphires. It was always known that these have outstanding value, however their first assessment of value was in Russia in 1859 when they were estimated at 24,930 rubles in gold.

Even though the relics have their material side, for the believers they are priceless. These are miraculous relics that give spiritual strength and sublimity, and these cannot be measured in wealth.

FROM ANTIOCH TO CETINJE

How these relics arrived to Montenegro is a truly interesting account. They have been preserved and transferred from country to country for centuries, finally reaching Cetinje where they have been for 8 decades.

After 9 centuries, the relics were transferred from Antioch to Jerusalem, and via Constantinople (todays Istanbul) came to the possession of the Knights of the Holy Crusades of St John the Baptist. They kept then on the island of Rhodes until the middle of the 16th Century when the Turks conquered the Rhodes. The knights then move to Malta, together with the relics, and change their name to the Knights of Malta or Knights of St John, commonly the Knights Hospitaller. The wars continued, and after the conquest of Malta by Napoleon, the knights move to Rome and in 1799 the relics ae handed over to Russian Tsar Paul Petrovich Romanov, Emperor Paul I of Russia. The Romanovs kept the relics until the Russian Revolution of 1918 when Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark), the mother of the last Russian Tsar, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, then transferred them from Russia to Copenhagen.

At the end of her life, she gave them to the Russian Metropolitan Antony Khrapovitsky who brought the relics through Berlin to Belgrade. In Belgrade he gave them to King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic as a sign of gratitude of the Russian people and the Russian church for receiving a large number of refugees from Russia.

The relics were in the Royal Palace in Belgrade until 1941 when King Peter II gave them to the Ostrog Monastery for safekeeping. The relics remained hidden in Ostrog until 1952. After the war, the relics were with the State Security Service which only in 1978 conveys them to the Religious Commission of the then Government of Montenegro. The hand of Saint John The Baptist and particles of the Holy Cross were handed over to the Cetinje Monastery for their final resting place, and the icon of Our Lady of Philermos to the National Museum in Cetinje, where they are still located to this day.

Cetinje, with all the cultural and historical values it bestows on all visitors, is a place that is unavoidable to experience. The confluence of strength, spirituality, life and struggle is carved here in every stone, and visible at every step. The relics are only a part of the enormous prosperity of Cetinje – so let the roads take you to Cetinje next time you visit Montenegro.

Stairway to monastery Ostrog

Road to the monastery Ostrog