Medun, a rocky ridge with 2,300 years of walls on top

If I had one stop to show how history piles up in central Montenegro, it would be Medun. On a single limestone ridge you get an Illyrian wall more than two thousand years old, the ruins of a medieval Turkish fortress on top of it, a church holding the grave of a 19th-century hero and, further down, the house where that hero was born. All of it in a village of 87 people, twelve kilometres from the capital.

Meteon, stronghold of the Labeates

The Tourist Organisation of Podgorica explains that Medun was Meteon, one of the centres of the Labeates, the Illyrian tribe that ruled the whole Skadar basin. It was founded in the late 4th or early 3rd century BC on an awkward, hard-to-reach ridge above the Medun plain, and what survives from that period are sections of a massive defensive wall in the so-called Cyclopean style, giant blocks fitted together without mortar.

The contrast with Doclea, the Roman town on the other side of Podgorica, is all in the size of the stones. Doclea has columns and baths from a market town. Medun is a fortress built to keep people out.

The Turkish fort on top

Later builders used the same ridge. The tourist board makes the point that most of what you see of the town today, the scattered corner towers and ramparts, belongs to the medieval Turkish fortress rather than to Meteon. It helps to keep that in mind as you climb. The biggest, roughest blocks are the ancient ones; the towers came afterwards.

I’d go up early or late. The ridge is exposed, the Podgorica valley bakes in summer, and from the top you can see exactly why everyone who passed through wanted this spot.

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Marko Miljanov, his grave and his home

Next to St Nicholas church lie Marko Miljanov and his wife Stefa, and below, on a saddle between the hills, is the house where he was born. Marko Miljanov Popović was a vojvoda, a warrior, a statesman and a writer, and the tourist board counts him among the most significant figures in Montenegro’s 19th century.

His birthplace opened as a museum in 1971. Inside are photographs of his life, personal belongings such as clothing, weapons and jewellery, a collection of manuscripts, editions of his writing and a library of more than 6,000 books. There’s an audio guide in Montenegrin and English, and I’d take it, because without the background the visit is just a case of keepsakes. It counts among the museums in Podgorica even though it sits outside the city.

Fitting it into a day

Medun is about 12 km north-east of Podgorica, on the way to the Kuči mountains. The tourist board doesn’t publish opening hours or a ticket price for the museum, so I’d ask at its office on Ulica slobode before setting off. There’s no official bus timetable to rely on, so a car or a taxi is the practical choice.

Half a morning is enough. For a full day of history, I’d do Doclea early, Medun mid-morning and spend the afternoon in town between the clock tower in Podgorica old town and the cathedral. Three eras in under twenty kilometres.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Medun and pick one that fits your day.

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