Mountains of Montenegro. Rumia What mountains are in Montenegro

A year ago, on one of the sunny winter days in Montenegro, my friends and I loaded into two cars, we decided to drive to the foot of Mount Rumia, to the Monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

The road to the monastery was very difficult. And for an unprepared driver who is not used to single-lane mountain roads without a limiter, it may even seem dangerous. But all worries fade when the most beautiful views open up in front of you - the holy Mount Rumia. I even stopped several times to look at them, remember them and take pictures.

There are many beliefs about this mountain. Since ancient times, it was crowned with the Church of the Holy Trinity and was considered a symbol of Orthodoxy in the Balkans. But during the Turkish invasion the temple was destroyed. According to legend, this was punishment for the sins of the people - the Lord took the church back to heaven. And he will return it only after atonement for human sins. Since then, every person climbing the holy Mount Rumiya had to take a stone with him as a sign of repentance. And when a sufficient number of repentance stones are collected at the top of the mountain, the church itself will descend from heaven.

It may seem like a joke to you, but in 2005 the church really came down from heaven. Since it was almost impossible to build it at the very top, it was decided to cast the temple on the “ground” and lift it into the mountains by helicopter. Since then, the new temple of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity has crowned Rumia, towering over all of Montenegro and protecting it from harm.
But our goal this time was a completely different Orthodox shrine. The Monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh is located at the foot of Mount Rumia, in a quiet mountain gorge between the Adriatic Sea and Lake Skadar. At the request of the Metropolitan of the Montenegrin-Litoval Serbian Orthodox Church, Bishop Amfilohije, this monastery should serve as a place of shelter and rest for pilgrims who go to the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, which stands at the very top of Mount Rumia.

If you, like me, want to see the holy places of Montenegro, you can stay at one of the hotels in the city of Bar, and from there, by car or on foot, climb the mountain.

The Bishop consecrated this place on July 19, 2009, and since then the construction of the monastery has been going on. For example, last year he was like this.

And this year he has already changed his appearance. People are trying to help construction: some with money, some with their own resources.

Mother Theodora, who turned out to be my countrywoman, greeted us very hospitably. She treated me to herbal tea, monastery pastries and dried fruits. After that she gave us a very interesting tour. She spoke about the history of the monastery, about the life and life of the sisters, and showed the holy relics. I was surprised that such a small temple houses such a large number of relics, many of which were brought from the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
After this wonderful story, we went to the holy spring.

The master who made these rock carvings also decorated the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Podgorica. The source became his last work - shortly after finishing work he died in a car accident.

One of the images on the rock is the cross of the holy martyr king John Vladimir. This cross has an interesting history. It is kept in the Androvich family and passed on as the greatest relic from generation to generation. Every year, on the day of the Holy Trinity, the Androvich family carries this cross to the top of Mount Rumia, to the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. And then, along with the procession of the cross, they descend to the holy spring, which is consecrated by this ancient cross.

Let's be friends!

Nature, as you know, is the best doctor in the world, and in addition to healing the body, it can give you an unforgettable experience of climbing a mountain. This very exciting process puts your thoughts in order, inspires you and makes you enjoy life like you did in childhood. However, in order for only pleasant memories and experiences to remain from the ascent, it is worth following basic safety rules and using some basic tips.

Among other rules and advice, it is worth noting that in no case should you climb the mountains alone, because even if everything goes well and you don’t need the help of a friend, once you reach the top, you will suddenly find that there is simply no one to photograph you. Rainy weather is also not considered a friend to mountain lovers. Many have seen travelers holding large sticks in their hands, but, nevertheless, we often forget about this important tool when climbing a mountain. The stick can be used not only as a support, but also as a warning to the snakes about people walking. In any case, climbing the mountain in the company of true friends will bring much more positive emotions and impressions.

In general, one of the most important factors for a successful climb to the mountain is good weather. On a clear, cloudless day, as you know, visibility is much better; sunny weather also means that there will be no dirt under your feet, which has more than once caused injuries to tourists. In addition to natural phenomena, important factors for a tourist to reach the top are, of course, his character and strong attitude.

One of the most popular ways to get to the top of the mountain is to leave early in the morning from the city of Bar and head to the Monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh (900 m). There you will certainly be treated to tea made from mountain herbs by the nuns, after which you can hit the road already well-rested. If the weather pleases you and you are determined to get to the top of Mount Rumii, then from the base camp follow the signs and special markers for this route from the monastery.

Rumors that Italy can be seen from the top of Mount Rumia are highly exaggerated. The entire ascent will take approximately 3 hours for an unprepared person. During this time, slowly climbing, tourists will see many beautiful views, but the most important, of course, will be those that await at the top. From the top of Mount Rumia there is a beautiful view of the city, the surface of the Adriatic Sea, as well as Lake Skadar. After admiring all these beauties, tourists should pay attention to the highlight of Mount Rumia - the white Church of the Holy Trinity, located at the very top of the mountain. According to legend, many years ago an Orthodox church stood on the site of this temple, but it was destroyed by the Ottomans, and the Montenegrins decided to erect a new building on the Holy Place.

During the entire ascent to Mount Rumii, tourists will encounter a wide variety of mushrooms and berries. Many people have heard about such wealth of the mountain, so some go to it specifically to collect more of them. Those who have seriously decided to pick strawberries should look for them at the top of the mountain - as they say, these berries are most abundant there. The process of climbing Mount Rumia is quite pleasant and not particularly difficult, and if this is your first ascent, do not rush. A tourist who climbs a mountain for pleasure and the process always gets more.

It is worth noting that the ascent of some tourists ends just before it begins due to the wrong choice of shoes for this activity. You should choose durable shoes for climbing with thick rubberized soles. And, of course, don’t forget about warm clothes. Even if, upon leaving your apartment in the morning, you find very hot weather outside, you should still take a couple of warm clothes with you, since the cold wind at the top of the mountain can ruin your most pleasant impressions of the climb and the amazing panorama.

Mount Rumia is visible from almost anywhere in Montenegrin Bar. Muslims called Byzantium Rumiya, and this mountain with the ancient temple of the Holy Trinity on its top has been a symbol of Orthodoxy since ancient times. At the end of the 16th century, the Turks destroyed the temple of God, but could not break the faith in the restoration of historical truth and the revival of Orthodoxy. For a long time, on the night of the feast of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, local residents, and more recently pilgrims from fraternal countries, including Russia and Belarus, come to the village of Velji Mikulichi to take part in the ascent to Rumia.

“The Trinity Church was destroyed by the Turks. According to legend, this temple was supposed to descend from heaven, but this requires the repentance of the Serbian people, the Montenegrins. For hundreds of years, people carried stones of repentance there. And so it happened. One person on Mount Athos was told that it was time to build a temple on Rumia, and he lowered it from a helicopter.”

The Trinity Church in 2005 was actually lowered onto Rumia from a helicopter. But the tradition of going to the procession on the night of Trinity remains. It remained also because the lithium comes with a great shrine - the cross of the first Serbian holy martyr, King Jovan Vladimir. It was with this cross in his hands that the ruler of the ancient Serbian state, Duklja, died a martyr 998 years ago. Over the past centuries, the guardian of the cross has been the Androvich family, whose representatives, even during the years of persecution of Orthodoxy in Tito’s Yugoslavia, carried the shrine to the top of Rumia with the hope that one day the Trinity Church would be restored.

Goran Androvich, keeper of the cross of the Holy Martyr. Jovan Vladimir:“Personally, I have been wearing a cross for the last 20 years, and the brotherhood that has rallied around the shrine has been keeping it for 8 or 9 centuries.”.

The Cross of St. Jovan Vladimir is a shrine that helped the Slavs of the Skadar region preserve the memory of their Orthodox origins. Even non-Turkish Muslims and local residents who converted to Catholicism continued to take part in religious processions to Rumia, says the long-time leader of the religious procession, Father Jovan Plamenac.

Priest Jovan Plamenac, rector of the Church of All Saints in Good Waters, the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in Rumia (Montenegro): “They remembered that all their ancestors were Orthodox. And this tradition of raising the cross is very long. If any of the Orthodox converted to another denomination, he did not stop taking part in the litiya, the procession of the cross. And this was the greatest asset, the wealth of this region - that unity around the cross of the holy martyr King Jovan Vladimir, which is kept by the Androvich family.”

In recent years, a procession of the cross has been ascending to Rumia through the monastery in honor of St. Sergius, abbot of Radonezh. This monastery appeared on Montenegrin soil with the blessing of Metropolitan Amphilochius and through the efforts of the Russian philanthropist Vitaly Ivanchikov and his friend Velimir Dragovich - the man who initiated the descent of the Church of the Holy Trinity by helicopter to the top of Rumia.

Natalya Anatolyevna Gudylina, Orthodox director, Sergiev Posad:“This year marks the 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and it is surprising that the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh is now being built here in the mountains.”

It is noteworthy that this time Russian pilgrims also delivered a penitential stone from Sergiev Posad to the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, thus making their contribution to the foundation of Montenegrin-Russian friendship. And it is worth noting that the pilgrims from Russia who climbed Rumia almost all reached the end, which surprised the Montenegrins. After all, the climb itself to the mark of 1600 meters with a slope of 45 degrees or more is not a test for the weak.

Having raised the penitential stone to the top of Rumia, a person feels how a mysterious, gracious change has occurred in his soul. From here he has beautiful views of the Adriatic and the shores of Lake Skadar, views of Montenegro and neighboring Albania, the land of the ancient empire of St. Jovan Vladimir. From here the destiny of man is revealed - holiness. Here all people are closer to God and closer to each other.

// Eastern European bureau of the SOYUZ TV channel with the support of the Shate-M Plus company, Holy Mountain Rumia, Montenegro.

Rumia is the highest point on the Adriatic coast, near the city of Bar and not far from the capital of Montenegro - Podgorica. From the top, where the deepest peace and quiet reigns, an incredible view of the bay and Lake Skadar opens. The whole journey there and back took us about 9 hours, but we were dropped off by car twice on the way both there and back...

At about 10.00, immediately after breakfast, we set out on a hike with the guys from the Sturtup-dacha project. The mood was fighting, the sun was shining, there was not a single cloud in the sky. Having first looked at the store, the first part of the journey, to the fortress of the old town of Bar, we took a taxi for 8 Euros from the bus station in Sutomore. Then we walked on foot, picking ripe pomegranates and tangerines from the bushes growing on both sides of the narrow streets on the way up.

We had to cover a distance of about 10-12 km along a road with a slight upward slope to the base of the mountain, where a more severe climb of 600 m began to the very top. The climb should have taken us about 2 hours, judging by the reviews on the Internet and looking ahead a little, I will say that we did it 2 times faster. We were guided by a GPS navigator, which periodically took us in the wrong direction, which caused irritation and everyone was slightly tense.

As we moved, we discovered that along the path along which we were moving, on the stones and sometimes even on the trees, there were signs that lead to the temple at the top (the metal temple is painted in the same white and red colors). We admired the views of rocks and gorges, the sounds of a stream running below caressed our ears, and the rays of the autumn sun gently warmed our backs. Along the way we came across small houses standing apart on huge plots, bridges and even a cemetery.

Having reached a fork indicating the directions of the various peaks, after about 2 hours of travel, we were incredibly lucky and were taken on board by a small truck heading along a dirt road winding up the mountains. We spent the next 5 km of the journey standing in its back, laughing and hooting as loud as we could.

Having dropped us off at the foot of the mountain, the driver went further along the ridge, and we noticed the golden domes of a tiny Orthodox church, which turned out to be the convent of St. Sergius of Radonezh. There was only one abbot on the territory, who told a little about the history of the temple, founded in 2009, and said that a documentary film was filmed at this place.

We took a break, had lunch and made our final push to the top. The ascent turned out to be quite quick, despite the fact that the abbot prophesied a 2-hour journey (an hour and a half later, including a stop, we were already at the Church of the Holy Trinity at the very top). The path was quite harsh at one point and resembled scenes from the movie The Lord of the Rings, because we did not follow the path, but simply climbed the rocks.

At the top we were greeted by a tiny, locked metal temple, which was delivered here by helicopter, a light breeze, silence and a stunning view of the mountain range, Lake Skadar and the bay in which the seaport and the city of Bar are located. We were cheerful, recorded video greetings, sang songs, had a little snack, rested and headed back. The muscles on the outer side of the thigh also conveyed greetings and reminded me of themselves.

Then we walked for a long time along the road towards the sun sinking into the horizon, eating blackberries (which grow on the bushes, to my great surprise). It was already completely dark, our legs began to buzz, and fortunately, a man drove by in an old Volkswagen, who gave us a lift to the old city, where we got into a taxi again. I wouldn’t say that it was difficult, of course I was sweaty in some areas and my legs were tired, but overall it was a very comfortable walk in good company, which left a lot of impressions.

To be continued…

Montenegro is a religious country, and pilgrimage tourism is an important component. If you came for this reason, first visit the Cetinje Monastery and Ostrog; it is better to take a bus tour on Olimpus.me, or an individual tour from me. Well, after that, I advise you to expand your horizons and visit less popular holy places, for example, the Orthodox women’s monastery of Sergei of Radonezh, where 6 Russian nuns serve today 💒 Located on Mount Rumia above the city of Bar, almost 1000 m above sea level. The last 5 km is off-road, so you can use your own two legs. Having climbed into such wilderness, you do not at all expect to see sparkling golden domes. It’s as if a piece of Russia ended up in this region, which is difficult to live in.

Last year we drove a passenger car and turned around at a place where the asphalt ran out; no one wanted to go on a hike 😂 But even a normal road is narrow, in some places it goes near a cliff; it took us half a minute to pass the Niva.

There is a trail to the top of Mount Rumija with a height of 1596 m 👣 As evidenced by the signs of the mountain club. The path is not easy, it leads to the Church of the Holy Trinity at the very top

This temple is associated with the cross and the name of St. Jovan Vladimir, a Slavic martyr. 2016 was the 1000th anniversary of his death. In the city of Bar itself, a temple was built, consecrated in his honor. Today, the cross of Jovan Vladimir is in the hands of the Androvich family, and only on the Day of the Holy Trinity do they take it out to the people and make a crusade to the top of Rumia, including Catholics and Muslims.

You can see the schedule from June 22 to 23, and repeat this year. With the first rays of sun, a liturgy is served in the Church of the Holy Trinity. Pilgrims who have overcome such a difficult path receive double joy. Their gaze reveals the beauty of unearthly wondrous landscapes - and the Adriatic Sea.

The church there is not new; it was installed in 2005 using a helicopter. According to legend, before the Turks came to these lands, it was already there. You can listen in more detail to the history of the restoration of the church in this program

And I will return to my impressions of the monastery of Sergei of Radonezh. It began to be built in 2009, the first appearance was completely different. The idea to dedicate it specifically to Sergei of Radonezh, who had not been heard of in Montenegro, was proposed by Metropolitan Amfilohiy. The first idea was to build a house for the person looking after the Church of the Holy Trinity. As a result, they began to build a church named after Alexander Nevsky. But we already have one in Montenegro, so the Montenegrin Metropolitan proposed dedicating the temple to Sergei of Radonezh, who is associated with the Holy Trinity.

The temple and konak have not yet been completed, it is quite cool inside the church, let me remind you that we are on the mountain, it was April 18 on the calendar. The sisters have to heat inside; the walls of the temple were insulated.

The monastery contains particles of the relics of saints, martyrs, and venerables:
particle of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov, St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky), St. Guria Tauride, St. Elders of Optina, St. Peter of Korishsky, St. Zosima of Sinaita, St. Sofia of Suzdal, prmts. Elizaveta Feodorovna, blessed. Paraskeva Diveevskaya

Services in the Sergius Monastery are conducted according to the regulations of ancient monasteries. “Our daily cycle of services begins at three o’clock in the morning,- says Mother Theodora, - First, the Midnight Office is served, then the First Hour and, if there is no Divine Liturgy, ends with the Fine Antiphons. Then at 9 o’clock the Third hour is read, at 12.00 o’clock – the Sixth, at 15.00 o’clock – the Ninth. Then at 5:00 p.m. Vespers is celebrated, and at 8:00 p.m. Compline is celebrated.”

There is no decoration inside the temple yet, but there are very elegant decoration elements carved from wood by a Russian craftsman.

The life of the nuns is ascetic, water and electricity are strictly limited. The area is inhabited by wild animals - wild boars, badgers, martens, etc., so you won’t have much to do with farming - a badger will dig up the garden or a marten will kill the chickens. There are strong hurricane winds, which every now and then try to carry away the frame of the gazebo or destroy the greenhouse. But in good weather there is peace and grace here, only the rustle of blossoming apple trees and the monotonous hum of bees (the sisters acquired one single hive).

2 km from the monastery of Sergei of Radonezh there is the monastery of St. Nicholas, with a spring and rock frescoes. For a person who drinks reverently, washes himself, or immerses himself in the spring, this water is holy and healing. The rock depicts the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan River

They say that at the top is depicted the miraculous face of the Most Holy Theotokos with eyes full of sorrow and tears, I didn’t know - I didn’t look... Every year on the feast of the Holy Trinity, this source is consecrated with the ancient cross of the holy martyr king John Vladimir.

There is also a baptismal font and a bench for rest.

I'll give you some useful coordinates:
42.082814, 19.195592 - source of St. Nicholas
42.094056, 19.182075 - monastery of Sergei of Radonezh
42.095149, 19.180136 - the beginning of the trail to Rumia, next to the monastery