Pljevlja

What to see and do

• Husein-pasha Mosque in the centre, built in 1569 as the endowment of Husein-pasha Boljanić from the nearby village of Boljanići, to plans attributed to the architect Hajrudin, builder of the Mostar bridge. Its minaret is 42 m, and it keeps an illuminated 16th-century Quran and a leather-backed carpet ordered from Egypt around 1573 that weighs 400 kg. Other mosques and monasteries are on the churches and monasteries page.
• Holy Trinity monastery (Sveta Trojica), first recorded in 1537 and founded by the hegumen Visarion; tradition places it in the 13th century, but its founding date is not known. The treasury holds relics, among them the hand of St Sava.
• Komini, the Roman municipium known as Municipium S, which had municipal status by the middle of the 2nd century AD.
• Ćehotina meanders viewpoint, about 20 km from town on the Bijelo Polje road. The meanders appeared when the Otilovići reservoir raised and widened the river; the lake is about 11 km long and much of it winds through a canyon, so the viewpoints on the rim are the way to see it. People fish and kayak on the lake and walk around it; the Dubočica monastery, medieval Koznik, Mališina cave, Medena stijena and stećci graveyards are nearby, and the meanders are a stop on the Crown of Montenegro panoramic road. Other lookouts are on the viewpoints page.
• Vodice, the town park with walking trails, and the viewpoint with a wooden shelter on the rise above motel Vodice, which looks over the whole town.
• Stražica memorial of 1961 to the fighters who fell in the Battle of Pljevlja on 1 December 1941, in which 238 Partisans were killed and 270 wounded, and the Garibaldi monument of 21 December 1983. More memorials of the period are on the memorials page.
• Pljevaljski sir, the salted white cheese that is the town's signature product.

The Tara and Durmitor

Pljevlja is one of the five municipalities of Durmitor National Park, with Žabljak, Mojkovac, Plužine and Šavnik, and the canyon of the Tara, 78 km long and 1,333 m deep at its deepest point between Obzor and Štuoc, forms its southern edge. The Đurđevića Tara bridge stands on the municipal border where the Pljevlja, Žabljak and Mojkovac roads meet, 37.2 km from town, about 45 min: 365 m long with a main arch of 116 m, 170-172 m above the river, built between 1937 and 1940 by the engineer Mijat Trojanović. Its arch was blown up in 1942, during the Second World War, and the bridge was rebuilt in 1946. The park sells its ticket at the bridge, €5 per person per day and free under 15. Two zip lines cross the canyon beside it, 1,050 m and 824 m long and about 150 m above the gorge, with no advance booking; multi-day rafting trips put in just below the bridge. The season on the river runs from April to October, with the safest window from 1 July to 15 September, a minimum age of 7 and about €70 for a day; the routes and operators are on the rafting page. The Ćurevac viewpoint at 1,625 m on the Žabljak side is the classic canyon lookout, and Bobotov kuk, the highest peak of Durmitor, is 2,522 m in the official survey (2,523 m in the park's figures).

The Ćehotina itself is 125 km long, 100 km of them in Montenegro: it rises at 1,020 m, passes the Otilovići dam above the town, leaves the country at 380 m and joins the Drina at Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Pljevlja fly-fishing zone on it holds grayling, huchen and brown trout, runs from June to November and is catch and release only, with daily permits from the local sport-fishing club; huchen must be released on every water in the country until 1 April 2029. The other zones are on the fly-fishing page, and the country's rivers are compared on the rivers page.

History in brief

Paleolithic traces were found in a cave below Gospića vrh in the Ćehotina valley, and the Roman town at Komini held municipal status by the middle of the 2nd century. The town is first mentioned as Breznik in 822 and was renamed Taslidža, the stone bath, in 1465 under the Ottomans; the monastery recorded in 1537 and the mosque of 1569 date from that period. The Battle of Pljevlja on 1 December 1941 was the largest battle of the first year of the war in Yugoslavia. The Stražica memorial of 1961 and the Garibaldi monument of 1983 mark the 20th century.

Getting there and around

• By road: the road south crosses the Đurđevića Tara bridge to Žabljak and Mojkovac; the road east follows the Ćehotina to Bijelo Polje; other roads cross into Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
• By bus: buses link Pljevlja with Žabljak (60 km, about 1 h 10 min) and the rest of the country; the bus guide has routes, stations and tickets.
• By train: there is no railway. The nearest station is Bijelo Polje, 68.5 km away, on the Bar-Belgrade line.
• By air: Podgorica Airport is 172.0 km away, about 3 h 34 min by road; Tivat Airport 214.8 km, about 4 h 38 min.
• Tourist office: Turistička organizacija Pljevlja, Kralja Petra I 43, telephone +382 67 009 019.
• Health: Opšta bolnica Pljevlja, the general hospital, Vuka Kneževića bb, telephone +382 52 300 168; the health centre (Dom zdravlja), Lovćenskog bataljona bb, telephone +382 52 311 026; ambulance 124. No pharmacy in town is open around the clock. Postcode 84210.

Road distances below are free-flow routing on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic or snow.

When to visit

Spring and summer are the season for the town and the Tara: rafting runs from April to October, fly fishing on the Ćehotina from June to November, and the meanders, Vodice and the canyon viewpoints are at their best between May and October. The mosque and the monastery can be visited in any season. In winter the Durmitor slopes above Žabljak, an hour and a quarter away, are the nearest skiing; the centres are compared on the skiing page.

Nearby

• Žabljak, 60.2 km, the Durmitor base town across the Tara bridge, with Durmitor National Park and Black Lake.
• Bijelo Polje, 68.5 km, on the Ćehotina too, with the nearest railway station and Đalovića cave.
• Durmitor and the Tara canyon, on the municipality's southern edge.
• The stećci graveyards of Žabljak and Plužine, on the UNESCO list since 2016.
• Kolašin, 104.5 km, the ski town with Biogradska gora.

Questions

Is the Đurđevića Tara bridge in Pljevlja or Žabljak?

On the border of the two municipalities, where the Pljevlja, Žabljak and Mojkovac roads meet; it is 37.2 km from Pljevlja and both towns count it as theirs.

How deep is the Tara canyon?

1,333 m at its deepest, between Obzor and Štuoc; the round figure of about 1,300 m is also in use. The Tara page has the canyon in detail.

Can you fish the Ćehotina?

Yes, in the Pljevlja zone: from June to November, catch and release, with a daily permit from the sport-fishing club. The closed seasons by species are set by the national fishing order.

How do you get to Pljevlja from Podgorica?

By road, 161.1 km and about 3 h 18 min, or by bus; there is no railway. The nearest station is Bijelo Polje, 68.5 km away.