Virpazar
Virpazar was first mentioned in 1242. and it is quite possible that it was a small trading hub for the local villages even at that time. In the 15th century its was capitalized by the Turks who built the Besac castle which still stands above the village. This well-preserved fortification was built in 1478. At the beginning of the 18th century, after the Turks were banished from the castle, the village became the most important trading point Montenegro.
During WWII Virpazar was the scene of the first Partisan uprising in Montenegro. They sank the steamboat Skanderbeg in 1942. and it still lies 11m below the surface near the mouth of Rijeka Crnojevića.


Skadar lake
Millions of years ago Lake Skadar was a bay of the Adriatic Sea. Over time, the bay was cut off from the sea and it became a lake that is mostly fed by the Morača River (62%) and drains into the Adriatic Sea via the Bojana River (80% of the water flows to sea, the rest of 20% is lost through evaporation). Bojana River is 41km long.
Interesting fact: the water in the lake is completely changed two times per year.
It is known that Lake Skadar has over 60 islands, they are popularly called „Gorice“.
Skadar is the largest lake in the Balkans. The size of the lake varies from 370 km2 in summer to 530 km2 in the winter. It is 44km long and 14km wide, while the average depth of the lake is about 6 meters. About two-thirds lie in Montenegro, and the other third is on Albania territory. The Montenegrin side has been a national park since 1983. and the Albanian side is a nature reserve.
But, the size of the lake was much smaller until 1858. In that year, after the big storm, the River Drim (which is tributary of Bojana river) threw so much sand, rocks and silt from the Albanian mountains into the Bojana River that the river bed was moved and from the pond the lake was formed. Before that event, the lake (the pond) has the name „Veliko Blato“ – „Great mud“. This is one of the reasons why we have floods on the lake every couple of years.
Interesting fact is that the lake is cryptodepression. That means that some parts of its bottom are below sea level. Such places we are calling „oko“ and there are about 30 of them in the lake. The deepest „oko“ is called Raduš and is 60 meters deep. As an area rich with fish it is very well known.
Interesting fact: the deepest known cryptodepression on Earth is Lake Baikal -1200m.
Lake Skadar is a key resting place for birds migration from northren Europe to Africa. It is the largest bird reserve in Europe. Some of the reasons why the lake is so important is because it is the last breeding ground of the Dalmatian Pelican and Pigmy Cormorant.
The are over 270 bird species in the national park, and 48 fish species. The Dalmatian pelican is the symbol of the Lake Skadar. Besides pelicans, you can also see: storks, egrets, ibises and herons, eagles, ducks.


Vranjina island and Vranjina Monastery
A two-humped hill was an island until the 1960s and the construction of the road and embankment. The highest peak is “Velji vrh” – 305m high.
The church of Saint Nicholas is the only one of the former three medieval churches that made up the Vranjina Monastery. The monastery was founded between 1221. and 1223. and served as the temporary seat of the Zeta Metropolitanate before Ivan Crnojević moved it to Cetinje.
The monastery has been destroyed several times by the Ottomans, but after Montenegro’s liberation from Turkish occupation, then-ruler Prince Nicholas restored one of the monastery churches.
In 1714. Numan pasha Ćuprilić attacked it with a large army and destroyed monastery to the ground. Since that time, the monastery has never fully rebuilt.
Again, in 1843. Osman pasha Skopljak suddenly attacked the Vranjina monastery and in a bloody battle killed all who defended it, together with the abbot and monks, and then the monastery was razed to the ground again. During the attack, several people from Crmnica locked themselves in the monastery, but the Turks managed to set fire and 9 people were burned to death in it.
In 1878. Vranjina fell into Montenegrin hands, and on the foundation of the old church, Prince Nicholas, in 1886. built the present church.
In region of Skadar Lake there are 20 monasteries, churches, villages, fortresses and sacred monuments.


Grmožur
The fortification was built by the Turks in 1843. after they captured fortresses Vranjina, Lesendro and Zabljak. In 1878, the fortress was captured by Montenegrin troops, and in the same year, King Nicolas I ordered the establishment of a prison on island. There was a rule , in the event of the escape of any of the prisoners, the guilty security guard took their place. Only one prisoner managed to escape, he used the prison doors as a raft to swim to the shore.
It was damaged in an eartquake in 1905. and has fallen into ruin ever since.


Lesendro
The fort Lesendro was built in 1832. and it is located on a peninsula, which until the construction of the Belgrade – Bar railway was an island. During the reign of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, a fortress served as a defense against Ottomans and was called “Key to Skadar Lake”, as it was meant to ensure safe trade and fishing for the local inhabitants. After 11 years, in 1843. it was conquered by Turks. To his regret, Njegoš failed several times to reconquer the fort, and that is why we still use the old saying: “Grieving likeVladika for Lesendro”. The Turks left the fortress 35 years later.


Zabljak Crnojevica
It is believed that fortress was founded in the 10th century, but the first know written testimony of the fortress originate from the 15th century. The fortress served as the capital of Zeta under the Crnojevići dynasty from 1466. till 1478. However, Ivan Crnojević was forced to move the capital in 1478. when the Ottomans seized the town during the siege of Shkodra, holding it until the decision of the Berlin
Congress in 1878. when it fell under Montenegrin administration once again after 400 years of Turkish rule.
Interesting story was happend on 1835. when Zabljak was temporary liberation by 12 people. 12 heroes held the fortress for serveral days, until Njegoš, under pressure from major powers, especially Russia, returened it to the Turks. Famous hero Kenjo Stankov lead 12 people to climb thru walls at the night. As a trophy, they took two cannons from the fortress to Cetinje. Cetinje monastery was the place where the cannons were until 1916. (in front of the monastery) and from than until today they are in Biliard.
Monastery Kom
Odrin hill is the home of the medieval Monastery Kom. There we will take a break of half hour to explore this magnificent place.
Kom Monastery and Church of the Virgin Mary were built between 1415. and 1427. , as and endowment of Đurađ and Aleksa Đurašević, members of the Crnojevića noble family. At that time, surrounded by Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice, all the monasteries of that period resembled as fortress in their appearance. Kom was not an exception, and because of that it was built on a high hill surrounded by marshland, and the protective wall with two gates was built around the monastery. In 1478. the Turks captured the fortress Žabljak Crnojevića, and forced Ivan Crnojević to move the capital to a new place, where 1485. established the Cetinje Monastery, it directly influenced the construction of the monastery. Monastery has some of the oldest frescoes in this region, dating back to the second half of the 15th century. However, the monastery is best known for the fact that this is the place where Montenegro’s greatest bishop and poet Petar II Petrović Njegoš was appointed as the archimandrite of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro, in 1831.


ABOUT MONTENEGRO
The first Montenegrin state was created as a mixture of Slavic, Illyrian, Avan adn Roman tribes as the sami-dependt state of Duklja in the 10th Century. In 1077. Pope Gregory VII recognizes King Mihail as the King of Duklja, and at that moment Duklja became independent state.
After Duklja, the state of Zeta in 1360. is created. The Turks never managed to conquer Zeta, and it was ruled by the Balsic family from 1360. till 1421. After that, the new family Crnojevići became rules of Zeta.
As the founder of the Montenegro state is considered Ivan Crnojević. He was rulled 1465. till 1490. and the Center of that state was Žabljak Crnojevića. Ivan felt that his capital Žabljak was no longer safe, because the Turks, he already in 1475. began the construction of city Obod in Rijeka Crnojevića place.
After the Ottoman invasion forced him to leave Žabljak, and later Obod, in 1482. Ivan began the consruction of the new city – Cetinje. Cetinje became his new capital, where he build the Cetinje Monastery and palace in 1484. where he moved permanently in 1485. Ivan Crnojević died in 1490.