Žabljak Crnojevića, the lost capital of the Crnojević rulers

Žabljak Crnojevića is a lone hill beside the spot where the Morača runs into Lake Skadar, ringed at the top by walls. Below are a cemetery, a small church and the houses of people who live off the lake. The Cetinje tourist board’s write-up mentions a mysterious atmosphere, which sums it up well.

From frontier fort to capital

According to Cetinje’s tourist board, it was founded in the 10th century by the Vojislavljević princes of Zeta as a military post, and the army of the despot Stefan Nemanjić is thought to have been stationed here. In the 15th century it became a capital, and fierce battles broke out around it. By then it was a small town of 300 houses at the mouth of the Morača, a busy place of trade.

Ivan Crnojević, who ruled from 1465 to 1490, fought the Turks until 1479, when the fortress fell. To keep out of their way, the same source says, he moved his capital to Obod, in today’s Rijeka Crnojevića, and later to Cetinje.

Four centuries under the Turks

The fortress stayed in Turkish hands for almost four centuries. The Crnojević castle became a barracks, St George’s church was turned into a mosque and a school was built later. There was only one way into the town, through a single heavy iron gate.

What survives today is a circuit of walls up to 15 metres high and two metres thick, with six towers. My favourite part is the way the same source teaches you to read the stone. The Turkish repairs give themselves away with careless masonry, the old sections and the semicircular tower are pressed stone in lime mortar, and the newest parts carry the hallmarks of Venetian work.

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The view and the visit

The National Tourism Organisation singles out the almost surreal view of the lake from the top and calls it an unavoidable stop on Skadar. National Parks of Montenegro counts it among the great Crnojević complexes of the second half of the 15th century within the park, alongside Kom monastery and Obod at Rijeka Crnojevića. In other words, this is where the story that continues upriver begins.

None of the official sites I checked lists opening times or a ticket price. The walls crown a hill above the village, so I’d take water and avoid the middle of the day in summer.

Getting there

OpenStreetMap places it in Zeta municipality, near Vranjina and the road from Podgorica down to the lake. The park suggests reaching it by mountain bike on the Dodoši to Žabljak Crnojevića route. I’d pair it with Lesendro and the Vranjina visitor centre on the same morning. For the others, from Herceg Novi to Ulcinj, see my round-up of Montenegro’s fortresses.

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

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