Churches & Monasteries Guides

Bar's Church of St Jovan Vladimir is a large modern Orthodox cathedral facing the coast, gilded outside and free to step into. Allow a short stop for the exterior, the plateau in front and the interior, then pair it with the rest of Bar. This guide covers its position, the saint behind the name, the gift shop and how to fit it into a day.

Budva's church visiting centres on the Church of the Holy Trinity in the old town, a working Orthodox church with an iconostasis painted by Naum Zetiri. Here is where to find it, what to look at inside, how long to allow, and which monasteries sit around Budva.

The Cetinje Monastery is an active Serbian Orthodox monastery in the heart of Cetinje, holding the right hand of John the Baptist, the remains of St Peter of Cetinje and particles of the True Cross. Here is what you are looking at inside, how the 1701–1704 building came about, and how to pair it with the Biljarda and King Nikola's Museum.

Kotor's walled town holds more than twenty churches and chapels. Start with St Tryphon's Cathedral and St Luke's on Piazza Greca, then use the quiet chapels to fill the gaps.

Kom Monastery sits on Odrinska Gora, a small island near Žabljak Crnojevića on Lake Skadar. Boats run from Virpazar, a walk up Odrin Hill finishes the approach, and at least one operator sells the trip as a private tour with published starting prices.

Ostrog Monastery is free to enter and splits into two separate complexes: the Lower Monastery on the slope and the Upper Monastery carved into the cliff. This guide covers what you see at each, the steep five-kilometre road between them, the footpath, trains and tours, and how to behave at a working pilgrimage site.

More than 50 Christian monasteries in Montenegro stay active and open to the public, and a handful fit easily into a coastal or mountain trip. This guide covers Ostrog's two sections, Cetinje's treasury, Morača's frescoes, Piva's rebuilt church and the island abbeys of Lake Skadar, with transport and etiquette.

Morača Monastery sits on the right bank of the Morača river about 70 km north of Podgorica on the E65 and 20 km south of Kolašin. Allow 1.5–2 hours for the grounds, the Church of the Dormition with its two fresco periods, and the small museum, then continue toward Kolašin rather than treating it as a detour.

Reževići Monastery is a short roadside stop between Sveti Stefan and Petrovac, with a stone belfry, a walled courtyard and frescoes inside the church. This guide covers how to reach it, what you see on arrival, what is preserved inside and how to behave as a visitor.

Piva Monastery stands above the Piva reservoir near Plužine because its original site was flooded. Here is what to see inside, how the move worked and how to fit the monastery into a Piva Lake day out.

Podgorica's Catholic church is the Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Konik, built in 1969 in Brutalist style. Here is what to look for, how to get there and how to behave if a service is on.

Dajbabe Monastery is a working Orthodox monastery in a hillside cave above Podgorica, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. Bus 6 or 7 takes around 20 minutes from the centre with a 10-minute uphill walk at the end, a taxi takes about 15 minutes, and walking from Trg Republike takes roughly an hour on hilly ground.