Kotor to Cetinje over LovćenA drive up the serpentine to Njegoš's Mausoleum

Here, at Trojica, the old road to Lovćen and Cetinje begins. Ahead of you are twenty-five tight hairpin bends, called kanice here, and almost a thousand metres of climbing up to the Krstac pass. The road is more than a hundred and forty years old. When Montenegro was recognised as an independent state at the Congress of Berlin in eighteen seventy-eight, Prince Nikola invited the engineer Josip Slade from Trogir. Slade built the Montenegrin part of the road, from Cetinje through Njeguši to the border above Kotor, and finished it in eighteen eighty-one. Kotor and the whole bay then belonged to Austria-Hungary, which built its own part, from Kotor up to the border at Krstac. That part is these hairpins, finished in eighteen eighty-four. The road was made for horses and carriages, with a gentle, even gradient. That is why the bends are packed so tightly and why the road is in places barely wider than one car. Keep right and drive slowly, especially on the bends, and be ready to stop for oncoming traffic. Don't stop on a bend, not even for a photo. Higher up there is a lay-by with a view where we will stop. If you are the passenger, look for the driver. With every bend the bay drops further below you.

You are now in the middle of the serpentine. People in Kotor say that, seen from above, the bends spell the letter M, and that the builder dedicated them to Princess Milena, the wife of Prince Nikola. That is a local story, not something written in the plans. Before this road, Kotor and the Montenegrin hills were linked only by a steep stone path. It still climbs the cliff above the Old Town, past St John's Fortress, all the way to Krstac. People from Njeguši and the nearby villages walked down it to the market in Kotor, with cheese, dried meat and firewood. Njeguši cheese was once sold in Kotor, and as far away as Trieste and Venice. The path is still waymarked. It is almost five kilometres long, with more than a thousand metres of ascent, and walkers allow several hours for it. You will find a description on our website. In nineteen sixteen, during the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian army began building a freight ropeway from Kotor over Krstac to Cetinje. It was driven by a steam engine and ran until the end of nineteen eighteen. Today a cable car crosses these slopes again, this time for passengers. We will talk about it on the way to Lovćen. Stay in your lane. There are a few more bends before the viewpoint.

If there is room, pull into the lay-by on the right and switch off the engine. Don't step out onto the road, and watch for cars coming round the bends. Look west, down below. At the very end of the bay is Kotor Old Town, a triangle of roofs by the water. Above it the walls zigzag up the hill to St John's Fortress. Along the shore to the north runs Dobrota, and across the water, on the far shore, is Prčanj. The hill behind Prčanj is Vrmac. It separates the Bay of Kotor from the Bay of Tivat, which you can see beyond it, wider and more open. From here you can see why Kotor was so well protected for centuries. The sea reaches deep in among the mountains, and the town is tucked away at the very end of the bay, under the cliff. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in nineteen seventy-nine. Cruise ships often lie in the port below you. From this height they look small, but they are several hundred metres long. When you pull out, indicate and let oncoming cars pass. The Krstac pass is about a kilometre further on.

You have reached Krstac, a pass at nine hundred and thirty-seven metres above sea level. This is where the hairpins end, and where the old footpath from Kotor comes out. Until the end of the First World War a border ran through here. On one side was the Bay of Kotor, part of Austria-Hungary. On the other was the Principality, later the Kingdom, of Montenegro. The picture for this stop shows the old inn at Krstac in the late nineteenth century. Travellers rested their horses and themselves here before going down to Kotor or on to Cetinje. The border shaped life in these hills. Kotor was the nearest town and market for Njeguši, but it was in another country. That is why this road mattered so much. The section from Cetinje to Krstac is considered the oldest road for carriages in Montenegro, and it led straight towards the sea. At Krstac the road forks. We are going to Njeguši first. We will take the road to Lovćen and the mausoleum when we come back this same way, in about an hour.

You are entering Njeguši. The village lies around a stony karst field that locals simply call Polje, the field, and it is made up of about ten hamlets with houses of dressed stone. This is the cradle of the Petrović Njegoš dynasty, which ruled Montenegro until nineteen eighteen. Njeguši also has fifteen churches, a lot for one village. But most travellers stop here for the ham. Njeguški pršut is made only in these hamlets. Fresh legs are taken in only from mid-November to mid-February, the coldest months. They are rubbed with sea salt, then pressed, which gives them their flat shape. Then they are lightly smoked over beech wood and dried in the wind, which blows here cold from the mountain one day and warmer from the sea the next. The whole process takes at least nine months, usually about a year. Njeguši ham was the first Montenegrin product whose origin was protected by law, back in two thousand and three. The ham comes with Njeguši cheese, which is kept in oil. Drive slowly through the village and stop at one of the taverns by the road. At some of them you can also see the smokehouse. If you are driving on, order water with your ham and save the rakija for the end of the day.

On the right of the road is the stone house where Radivoje Petrović, known as Rade, was born in eighteen thirteen. The world knows him as Petar the Second Petrović Njegoš. The house is simple: rectangular, built of stone, with a vaulted cellar on the ground floor, like other old houses in this area. Across the road, in the same yard, is the house of Duke Mirko Petrović, the father of King Nikola. King Nikola himself was born here in Njeguši, in eighteen forty-one. Rade was seventeen when, in eighteen thirty, after the death of his uncle Petar the First, he came to power. He was both prince-bishop, the head of the Church, and ruler of the country. He brought a printing press to Cetinje and opened the first schools. But he is remembered above all as a poet. His Mountain Wreath, published in eighteen forty-seven, is one of the great works of South Slavic literature. He died of tuberculosis in Cetinje at the age of thirty-seven, and wished to rest on the summit of Lovćen. That is where we are going now. The house is part of the National Museum of Montenegro, and the ticket for Njegoš's Mausoleum includes it.

There is a lay-by with a view on the right. If it is free, stop there. Below you open the Bay of Tivat and the town of Tivat, and on a clear day the open sea. A little further on, at Kuk, is the top station of the Kotor–Lovćen cable car, at one thousand three hundred and forty-eight metres. The cable car opened in twenty twenty-three. From Dub station near Kotor it climbs almost four kilometres in about eleven minutes. If you come back another time without a car, it is the easiest way up Lovćen. These slopes were a front line. In January nineteen sixteen the Austro-Hungarian army attacked the Montenegrin positions on Lovćen. Guns in the forts around the bay and on warships in the bay pounded the mountain for days. Within a few days the positions fell, and soon afterwards Austro-Hungarian troops entered Cetinje. In the same year the chapel on Jezerski vrh, where Njegoš lay, was destroyed. For Montenegrins Lovćen was, and still is, a symbol. That is exactly why, of all the peaks, it was the target.

You are approaching the Lovćen National Park barrier at Međuvršje. The park ticket is paid at the barrier: three euros per person for the day. Lovćen has been a national park since nineteen fifty-two. Its highest peak is Štirovnik, at one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine metres. Ahead of you is Jezerski vrh, one thousand six hundred and fifty-seven metres, with the mausoleum right on top. The slopes are covered with beech and Bosnian pine. It is often up to ten degrees colder here than on the coast, and fog can come down within minutes. If it does, turn on your lights, slow down and don't overtake. In winter there is snow and ice on Lovćen, and the mausoleum is closed from mid-November to mid-April. In the summer season the last stretch, from the car park to the mausoleum, has special traffic rules. Follow the signs and the instructions on site.

You have reached the car park below Jezerski vrh. Park, lock the car, and take a jacket and some water. Four hundred and sixty-one steps lead up to the mausoleum. Most of the climb goes through a tunnel in the rock, so it is shady even in summer. Climb at your own pace and rest when you need to. Allow about an hour for the climb, the visit and the way back. The climb is steep and there are only steps, so it is not suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs. The mausoleum ticket is eight euros for adults and four euros for pupils and students, and children under twelve go in free. The same ticket covers Njegoš's birthplace in Njeguši. The mausoleum is open from mid-April to mid-November, from nine in the morning to six in the evening. Off you go. The next story starts at the top, on the terrace in front of the mausoleum.

On this summit Njegoš built a small chapel in his own lifetime, and asked to be buried in it. He died in eighteen fifty-one. He was first buried in Cetinje Monastery, and in eighteen fifty-five he was brought up here. The summit became a symbol, and suffered for it. In nineteen sixteen, during the Austro-Hungarian occupation, the chapel was destroyed and Njegoš's remains were taken to Cetinje. They were returned to a rebuilt chapel in nineteen twenty-five. In nineteen fifty-one, on the hundredth anniversary of Njegoš's death, the government of what was then the People's Republic of Montenegro decided to replace the chapel with a mausoleum designed by the sculptor Ivan Meštrović. The demolition of the chapel drew protests from the Orthodox Metropolitanate and part of the faithful. The mausoleum opened in nineteen seventy-four. At the entrance stand two Montenegrin women carved in black granite, like caryatids. Inside is a granite figure of Njegoš, also by Meštrović. The poet sits with an open book, with an eagle spreading its wings behind him. The vault is covered with a mosaic of about two hundred thousand gilded tiles. Below, in the crypt, is a plain marble sarcophagus carved with a cross and a coat of arms, signs of spiritual and worldly power. When you come out, follow the path behind the mausoleum to the round viewpoint. On a clear day the view takes in two thirds of Montenegro.

You are passing through Ivanova Korita, a wooded valley at about one thousand two hundred metres. Tradition links the name, which means Ivan's troughs, to Ivan Crnojević, the fifteenth-century ruler of Zeta and founder of Cetinje. The story goes that water from a nearby spring ran into troughs of beech logs made by Ivan-beg, as the people called him. Today this is the heart of the national park. On the left of the road is the visitor centre, where you can get information about the trails, and maps. There is also an adventure park, hotels and restaurants. In the park by the road stand busts of the rulers of the Petrović Njegoš dynasty, from Prince-Bishop Danilo to King Nikola. The most popular trails on Lovćen start here. In summer it is pleasantly cool, and in winter Ivanova Korita is often under snow. Winter equipment is compulsory in Montenegro from the fifteenth of November to the thirtieth of March. Cetinje is about fifteen kilometres away, mostly downhill. Use a lower gear and don't ride the brakes.

Welcome to Cetinje, the old royal capital of Montenegro. This is where our drive ends. The town grew up around the monastery that Ivan Crnojević founded in fourteen eighty-four. Under Prince, later King, Nikola, Cetinje was a capital with legations of the European powers. Many former embassy buildings still stand in the centre. Park in the centre and carry on on foot. Cetinje Monastery, King Nikola's Palace and the Biljarda, Njegoš's residence, are a few minutes' walk from each other. For that we have a walking audio tour of Cetinje among our audio guides. To get back to the coast, you can return the same way through Njeguši, if the seasonal rules on the serpentine allow it, or go faster via Budva.