We continue the section dedicated to the sights of Montenegro and how to get to them. Many tourists who come to Montenegro have heard or will hear about an Orthodox monastery called Ostrog, which was built in a rock at an altitude of about 800 meters above sea level in the 17th century by St. Basil of Ostrog, whose relics now rest in that very monastery, in a cellar-like room . Ostrog Monastery is one of the central shrines of Orthodox Montenegro. Ostrog is actively visited by pilgrims from neighboring Serbia and Bosnia. It is believed that the relics of Vasily Ostrozhsky have miraculous healing power, and therefore it is to St. Basil that they turn with prayers for healing and good health.
Having completed the introductory part, let's move on to practice, namely: how to get to Ostrog. Ostrog is located between the cities of Niksic and Danilovgrad. A good road leads from the Bay of Kotor to Niksic - it was built a couple of years ago. From the coast it will be easier to go through Cetinje and Podgorica. Well, we, since we live on the bay, went to the side of the village of Morin, from where the highway to Niksic rushes into the mountains (according to the sign to Niksic, 72 km). Having climbed a little into the mountains, we could not resist the temptation to take another photo of the Bay of Kotor, this time from a new angle - right in front of us was the Verige Strait and the islands of Perast.
The day was hot, so we planned a stop for a swim in a lake near Niksic. At the entrance to Niksic there are several pretty lakes, for swimming we chose Slano jezero (in Russian “Salt Lake”), in appearance Slano jezero is somewhat reminiscent of Lake Skadar, it also has an uneven coastline, scattered islands covered with greenery - beauty!
Noticeably refreshed, we continued our way to Niksic, after which we turned to Danilovgrad, Ostrog in that direction. At the nearest gas station, we were assured that we were on the right track, and soon we saw the sign “Ostrog 12 km”, at the right fork there was another sign to Ostrog, so we turned left off the highway into the mountains. A narrow mountain serpentine leads to Ostrog, in some places not of the best quality, in some places it was simply impossible to part with buses, and you had to turn back, hanging over the abyss, creating local traffic jams from several cars, driving is not for the faint of heart.
Finally got up. The temple complex of Ostrog has two tiers, separated by a road of 5 kilometers. On the lower tier is the Church of the Holy Trinity, in which the relics of the martyr Stanko are buried. The Turkish invaders cut off the hands in which he held the cross to a 15-year-old boy. Further, a hiking trail leads to the upper tier, as well as a car road, which we decided to use because of the heat - the climb uphill is too difficult. On the upper tier there is a church dedicated to the Holy Cross, and, of course, the colorful white Ostrog. In the photographs, the monastery always seemed larger to me - in fact, it is not that big, photography inside the complex is prohibited, so we photographed in fits and starts.
It took us no more than half an hour to visit the monastery, after which we rushed to the highway, and there - to Podgorica, and to Skadar Lake - we again needed to cool down 🙂 From Podgorica, we returned down the classic route Cetinje - Budva - Kotor.
