The museums of Cetinje, keeper of the country's story

The Cetinje tourist board calls its home the city of museums, and it isn’t exaggerating. When the capital moved to Podgorica, Cetinje kept the state’s memory, and most of it is shared out among the branches of the National Museum of Montenegro. My advice is not to try to see everything. Three well-chosen museums explain the town; save the rest for a rainy day.

Vladin dom, the headquarters

The building you’ll recognise first is Vladin dom, the former Government House, finished in 1910. The Cetinje tourist board credits it to the Italian architect Corradini and gives its size as 66 by 52 metres around a 39 by 36 metre courtyard. It was the largest building in the country in its day and, besides the Government and Assembly, housed the post and telegraph office, the printing works and even a temporary theatre. Today it’s the National Museum’s headquarters, home to the History Museum and the Art Museum.

The Art Museum holds the piece I wouldn’t miss, the icon of Our Lady of Philermos. The local tourist board says it travelled across much of Europe through several wars before reaching Cetinje, a story that’s best read standing in front of the icon.

The palace, the Biljarda and the rest

The King Nikola Museum fills King Nikola’s Palace, the court’s residence and a museum since 1926, with its European royal interiors. The Njegoš Museum is in the Biljarda, the 1838 residence of the bishop and poet, with the relief map of Montenegro beside it and a lapidarium in the courtyard.

The list is rounded off by the Ethnographic Museum, for traditional life, Atelier Dado, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2002 that honours the painter Dado, born in Cetinje, and the Museum of Money, which the National Tourism Organisation recommends to anyone curious about currency.

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The two museums out of town

The National Museum has two branches outside Cetinje. One is the Njegoš Mausoleum on Jezerski vrh, with Ivan Meštrović’s sculpture. The other is Njegoš’s birthplace in Njeguši, a plain stone house built over a vaulted konoba. Both lie on the Lovćen road towards Kotor and fit into the same outing.

Prices, hours and planning

Now for the gap in the information. The National Museum’s website lists neither prices nor hours, and no other official source I’ve found fills the gap, so you won’t find figures here. The practical thing is to ask at the first desk whether there’s a joint ticket, as almost every museum belongs to the same institution, or to ask at the tourist office in Cetinje.

As for order, I’d start with the palace and the Biljarda, which are side by side, and leave Vladin dom for after lunch. Four hours covers all three without a rush.

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

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