Lovcen

Lovcen National Park covers an area of 6,400ha and is dominated Mount Lovcen's magnificent twin peaks, Stirnovik and Jezerski. Lovcen has a special significance for Montenegrins, who consider it to be their Mount Olympus. On the summit of the mountain is the most important monument in the park, Njegos' Mausoleum, where the remains of the greatest Montenegrin of all lie buried, those of the ruler and poet Petar II Petrovic Njegos (1813-1851). This lofty tomb is a symbol to all that the heart of Montenegro is unassailable. Two marble caryatids now stand guard at the entrance to the tomb.

The old mountain road winds along through the barren rocky landscape to Njegusi, a picturesque little mountain village famous as the birth place of Montenegro's royal dynasty of Petrovic, which ruled from 1696 to 1918. In a simple stone building here Njegos was born. The village is also renowned for its cheese made from goat's and sheep's milk and its prosciutto, the best in Montenegro, which is produced in many of the houses here.

These mountains are also home to Cetinje, Montengro's old capital.