- Address: Baja Pivljanina, Cetinje 81250, Montenegro
- Date of construction: 1450
In modern Montenegro, there are a huge number of monasteries and temples of various religious trends. Most of the population profess Orthodoxy, therefore, there are many Christian Orthodox churches in the country. A special role in the cultural and historical life of the Montenegrin capital was played by the Vlasha Church. This is the oldest building in Cetinje , which is located in the center of the city on Liberty Square. The Vlas church was built one of the first at the foundation of the city. It is known that in 1860 in this temple Montenegrin king Nicolas I was married to his wife Milena.
The history of the temple
The first Orthodox church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos was built in 1450. It was built near the old cemetery of shepherds from the village of Starye Vlachy, which served as the name for the shrine. The original view of the temple was a rather fragile structure of sticks and dirt. Such a structure was rebuilt several times: first simply from stones, then a lime solution was added to them. Now tourists can see the version of Vlasha Church, which was preserved after the reconstruction of 1864.
Architectural features
Vlasha Church is built in the form of a simple one-nave building with a gable roof. On the main facade there is a belfry with three bells. Inside the temple you can see a valuable iconostasis, which was created in 1878 by the Macedonian master Vasily Dzhinovsky. Near the church is the oldest churchyard, where there are burials dating back to the XIV century. Here lie many famous Montenegrins, for example, the founder of the temple, Ivan Boroy and his wife, the famous partisan XVII in Bayo Pivlyanin, the first minister of education.
Particular attention should be paid to the fence of the church and the cemetery: it is built of rifle barrels, which were seized from the Turks during the war in 1858-1878. To make the fence, 1544 rifle barrels, combined in 98 spans, were used. Each trunk is decorated in the form of a spear. Before entering the Vlaška church there is a unique monument - " Lovcen 's Spirit". It was established in 1939 in memory of the Montenegrins returning from exile to their homeland. Not reaching Montenegro, they drowned near the coast of Albania .
How to get to Vlasha Church?
Near the temple there is a bus station Cetinje. The shortest path (650 m) from it to the sights along the street Mojkovačka, can also be walked along the streets of Mojkovačka and Ivanbegova (850 m). A walk from the station to the church takes from 8 to 15 minutes.