Adriatic Coast - Montenegro - page 178

Both churches are holding up well considering that they've survived attacks by Otto-
man, French and Italian armies. There's usually an elderly black-robed nun holding the
fort in the small gift shop selling religious icons and homemade olive oil and honey.
Local tradition tells of a Greek or Roman temple and cemetery that once stood on this
site.
Just down the hill from the monastery is Perazića Do , a small sandy beach bookended by
rocky headlands, overshadowed by a hideously large, seemingly abandoned hotel devel-
opment. Near the highway a stone building (1856) was once a school and now houses a
museum, gallery and library devoted to the Paštrović tribe, although you'll be lucky to find it
open.
Gradište Monastery Манастир Градиште
Perched on a hill overlooking Buljarica Beach, Gradište Monastery is a tranquil collec-
tion of stone buildings facing onto a central courtyard. The monastery was first men-
tioned in documents from 1305 although it's believed to date from 1116. Like many
Montenegrin monasteries it's had a rough time over the years at the hands of invading
armies and it's been rebuilt several times.
The three churches on the site are renowned for their frescoes. The interior of St Nich-
olas' Church MAP (Crkva Sv Nikole) is completely covered in beautiful paintings of biblic-
al scenes and Serbian royalty dating from 1620. The iconostasis was carved and painted
by Vasilije Rafailović of the famous family of artists from Risan. Its neighbour, St Sava's
Church MAP GOOGLE MAP (Crkva Sv Save), was built in 1864 and has an iconostasis by
Nicholas Aspiotis, whose work is also on display at Praskvica Monastery ( Click here ).
Look out for a peculiar image of a saint with the head of a donkey on the bottom row of
the icon immediately to the right of the iconostasis door. One school of thought suggests
that it was St Christopher who received this great blessing after he prayed to be rid of his
darned good looks. On a slight elevation is the Church of the Dormition (Crkva Uspenja Bo-
gorodice).
Taking the main road south of Petrovac, turn left after the tunnel and take the steep
road up to the monastery (park at the bottom, if you're not sure your car is up to it).