Skip to content
eMontenegro
Monument to Ivan Crnojević

Monument to Ivan Crnojević

Anto Gržetić's bronze of the founder of Cetinje on Dvorski trg, unveiled on 13 July 1983 for the town's 500th anniversary

Bronze statue on a stone plinth · Made 1982, unveiled 13 July 1983 · Dvorski trg

Photo: Joergsam · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tickets: Free entry

The monument to Ivan Crnojević stands in the centre of Cetinje, in the small park of Dvorski trg between King Nikola's court and the State Archives. It honours the man who founded the town in 1482 and was unveiled on 13 July 1983, Statehood Day, for Cetinje's 500th anniversary. The bronze figure by the sculptor Anto Gržetić shows a broad-shouldered man with a sword over his shoulder, for justice, and a shield, for defence. It is a public square in the pedestrian centre, open at all times and free.

The monument

Gržetić made the statue in 1982 and it was unveiled the following summer, on Statehood Day 1983, in the middle of the square in front of the court. The figure stands on a stone plinth; on the shield is a double-headed eagle. The monument is not among Cetinje's individually protected buildings, but it stands inside the Historic Core of Cetinje, which has been protected as a whole since 1961.

The statue of Ivan Crnojević on a stone plinth in a small park with flower beds, a low fence and tall cedars in the centre of Cetinje
The monument in its park on Dvorski trgPhoto: Сергей Наруков, CC BY 3.0

Anto (Ante) Gržetić was born on 28 February 1920 in Škaljari near Kotor, graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1949 and studied in 1955 in the master workshop of Toma Rosandić. He died in Belgrade on 4 December 1992. He is best known for his memorials to the Second World War, among them the one in Šumarice at Kragujevac; the Cetinje figure is one of his few public works on another theme.

Close view of the bronze figure of Ivan Crnojević holding a sword hilt and a round shield with a double-headed eagle
The shield with the double-headed eaglePhoto: Adam Jones, Ph.D., CC BY-SA 3.0

Ivan Crnojević

Ivan Crnojević ruled from 1465 to 1490. Around 1475 he moved his seat from Žabljak Crnojevića on Lake Skadar to Obod above Rijeka Crnojevića, and in 1482 to the Cetinje field, where he built his court; the town counts that year as its founding. In 1484 he founded a monastery at Ćipur, the ancestor of today's Cetinje Monastery, which Bishop Danilo built on the ruins of the court in 1701. The court itself was lived in for only fourteen years, and its only picture is the engraving in the Oktoih of 1494, printed by the press of Ivan's son Đurađ. Ivan's mill in Vladičina bašta, probably from the 1480s, is the one building of his time still standing in Cetinje, and the only trace of the former Cetinje river. The town took its name from the Cetina stream, a name used until the 17th century.

Getting there

Dvorski trg is in the pedestrian centre of Cetinje. Drive times without traffic: Podgorica 36.1 km, about 46 minutes; Budva 30.4 km, about 40 minutes.

Nearby

History

  1. 1482

    Cetinje founded

    Ivan Crnojević builds his court in the Cetinje field after moving his seat from Žabljak Crnojevića to Obod around 1475; the town counts this as its founding.

  2. 1484

    Monastery at Ćipur

    Ivan founds a monastery at Ćipur, the ancestor of Cetinje Monastery.

  3. 1494

    The Oktoih

    The press of Ivan's son Đurađ prints the Oktoih, whose engraving is the only picture of the court.

  4. 1982-1983

    Monument

    Anto Gržetić makes the bronze in 1982; it is unveiled on Dvorski trg on 13 July 1983 for the 500th anniversary.

How we check facts

Sources

Cetinje Tourist Organisation, Ivan Crnojević's Monument · Cetinje Tourist Organisation, Rijeka Crnojevića (Ivan's rule 1465-1490, Obod, Oktoih 1494) · Ministry of Culture, Management Plan of the Historic Core of Cetinje (2009): sculptor, 1982, Ivan's court and mill, protection since 1961 · Portal Analitika, Od 1948. do danas: šta je sve otvarano tokom 13. jula (unveiled 13 July 1983) · Spomenik Database, Ante Gržetić (biography, bronze; secondary) · OpenStreetMap node 425732327, Spomenik Ivana Crnojevića, ODbL · OSRM routing (car and foot, OpenStreetMap data, ODbL; times without traffic)

Closest places

All on the map

More monuments

All monuments