Morača Monastery, medieval frescoes by the river

Some monasteries need a detour; Morača waits for you by the roadside, on the bank of the Morača river beside the road from Podgorica to Kolašin, and nearly everyone heading north through that valley passes within yards of its gate. I’d rank it among Montenegro’s most rewarding stops, because in an hour you get 13th-century architecture, first-rate frescoes and a waterfall.

A monastery founded in 1252

The Kolašin tourist board sums up its origins. It was built in 1252, early in the Nemanjić dynasty, and its founder was Stefan Vukanović Nemanjić, son of Vukan and grandson of Stefan Nemanja. The complex has two churches, the main one dedicated to the Dormition of the Most Holy Virgin and a smaller one dedicated to St Nicholas, plus the konak, which holds the monks’ cells and living quarters.

The main church follows the Raška architectural style, but its main portal is Romanesque. That blend, a Byzantine-tradition church with a doorway that looks westward in style, is the first thing I’d study before going in. The village of Manastir Morača had just 25 residents at the 2023 census, so the setting is still thoroughly rural.

The frescoes

What made Morača famous is on its walls. The Kolašin tourist board describes the fresco of the raven feeding the prophet Elijah, painted in the 13th century, as the oldest and best known in the monastery.

The national tourist board adds that one of Morača’s frescoes won the prize for the most beautiful Byzantine-style fresco at an international exhibition in Paris. I couldn’t find the year or the name of the exhibition on its pages, so I’m passing the claim on exactly as the source gives it. Either way, the visit deserves time in front of every wall of the main church.

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The Svetigora waterfall and the monastery’s water

A spring rises beside the monastery and feeds the Svetigora stream. According to the tourist board, some of the water of the Ibrištica river vanishes into a sinkhole upstream and resurfaces here, and for centuries it drove the monastery’s mill and fulling mill. The stream ends in a 48 metre waterfall that spills over a limestone terrace before reaching the Morača. It’s a short walk from the monastery and, in spring when the water is high, the best part of the visit after the frescoes.

Getting there and nearby sights

The monastery is 25 km from Kolašin towards Podgorica, right by the main road that drops through the Morača Canyon. Reaching it by public transport on your own is awkward, so drive or join a northern excursion. Coming up from the coast by car, expect a two-lane mountain road, driven on the right.

Monks still live here, so dress with shoulders and knees covered and check before photographing the interior. It pairs well with the nearby Mrtvica canyon and with Biogradska Gora National Park, north of Kolašin. If monasteries are your thing, carry on to Ostrog, wedged into a cliff above the Zeta valley.

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