the monastery of saint peter (sveti petar cetinjski)

If you are in Cetinje, you must to to the monastery. This is a true spiritual pearl of Cnra Gora. Place where the God is closer to us.

Cetinje is a relatively small town, but it is just full of a cool tourist atractions, and this old monastery is just one of them, located in the old center and surronded by beutifell park, it is the must-see for every traveler.

This is still a working monastery so not all is accessibleThe ceiling in the church is beautiful! As are the altar and icons.I would again recommend a guided tour as this adds so much colour to the visit

Cetinje is the old capital of Montenegro and has wide streets leading to the old palace. We did not go inside, but did visit the orthodox Monastery of St Peter. This is a working monastery and I don't know why it is open to tourists, as you are made to feel very unwelcome. We couldn't really get inside to see anything. Our most interesting interaction was with a man selling old Yugoslavian banknotes in the courtyard. I bought a Serbian one that was only in circulation for four years when there was no king and before the communist takeover. It was dated 1941 and had several beautiful women on both sides. This man told us about the history of the region.

We got a private guided tour around this museum which helped us understand some of the history of Cetinje and Montenegro. Don't go like that, a guided tour is a must or you will just see artifacts without getting the picture.

Very calm and picturesque town , if you have a spare half-day. A lot of trees & shade, but few historically-interesting objects.

St Peter's monastery is at the southern end of Cetinje close to the large car park where tour coaches park. It is a dominant building at the foot of a hill, beside a large park. It was built in the early 1700's and replaced a 15th C church whose foundations are visible close by. As other reviewers have mentioned it is unwelcoming to visitors. There is a strict dress code so a quick visit looks impossible. You can peer into the courtyard and see people decked out head to toe in long shawls. There are some nice frescoes above the main entrance.

Wonderful monastery in the center of Cetinje. Magic and spiritual atmosphere, you can breath the spiritual essence of Montenegro. Cetinje itself is the heart of Montenegro history, with museums, buildings, old town.

If you are visiting Cetinje anyway, fine, but don't go just for the monastery. It is a seriously religious place where tourists are made to feel like intruders. When there are no worshippers in the chapel, you will be allowed in there for just one minute. I've seen more interesting chapels. You don't get to see anything else apart from the shop, and that isn't for nosey outsiders either.

Am not sure I got to see the best of this site, when we finally found it the site looked quite impressive but it certainly wasn't very inviting. I had read about the various items prior to visiting but there was a group of people in attendance who didn't look like they worked there but never the less seemed to be guarding the icons, in fact I was asked to move on as I can only think they thought I was loitering too long. I would suggest you allow at least 5 minutes for your visit but any more and expect to be moved on.

If you have special interest in churches, icons etc. go there. If not: make the Moraca Monastery further inland (om the way to Kolasin) your choice.

I made a special journey from Kotor to Budva and then from Budva to Cetinje by public transport to see this town as Cetinje is the former capital of Montenegro. As such, I thought there would be many buildings of note worthy of a visit. No, it is just a very sleepy little town although I did visit out of season and on a Sunday and all the museums were closed. There was therefore nothing to see other than the monastery. I did not even get to see the hand of John the Baptist which was a bit disappointing. The chapels are very ornate and pilgrims here are very religious and respectful; make sure you are dressed respectably or they will give you shawls to cover your bare arms and legs.Personally, I didn't feel it was worth the long journey it entailed to get there but I would say that the mountainous bus trip from Budva with the many winding roads was quite an experience. Just make sure you have a head for heights and don't suffer from travel sickness!

If you go on an organised trip, or a day when there are trips due, it isn't as good. We asked our waiter from the hotel, and he showed us the bus stop that the locals use. The bus was 07.30 in the morning, and we got a few odd looks from the locals, but smiles too. The journey wasn't in an air- con tour bus, and there were a few chickens aboard, but so what.When we started to wander around Cetinje, and particularly at the museum, an English-speaking tour guide was that impressed that we'd made the effort that she gave us a potted tour for free. She was intrigued that we knew about Mahailavich/ Tito, his role in Spain, uniting the 6 Slav countries, resisting the Soviets etc., that we had a really interesting discussion.Tip: wear longer trousers on the bus. We had to stand for most of the journey and i had shorts on, and my bare thighs were too close for the comfort of a Nun who was seated nearby. It probably wouldn't have bothered most ladies, but when in Rome . . . Cheers, Bri.

We traveled to Cetinje from Budva on a Monday morning and discovered that there were a number of organized groups and bus tours that made the same journey. Unless you are with a group, you are only allowed to visit the very small chapel, a small shop, and an area where they have toilet facilities (not free) and light refreshments. They have several young men who try to keep things organized as well as several monks. The young men kept remarking that Monday is always busy and crazy. They told us to take a seat and they would call us when it was our turn to see the chapel. Since the chapel is very small, they only allow a few people inside at any one time. They also strictly enforce no photos in the chapel area (even the outside of the chapel!). (And they also issue scarves to people who they deem are not dressed modestly enough!) The chapel has some very nice icons and painted frescos. While you are in Cetinje, also visit the Cipur Church and the Vlaska Church (both small churches which DO allow photography!).

It's very, very unlikely that you'll be able to see the right hand of John the Baptist, but it's something to know that this is the building where it's kept. Otherwise, the best you can do is to get a postcard of the hand from the monastery shop, where one of the monks has lived in America and speaks excellent English. You can also get cards and icons there of the ancient, miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Mount Philermos, but the icon itself is now housed in the National Gallery part of the Montenegro National Museum a few hundred yards away.