Njegoš Mausoleum

Opening hours and tickets

The mausoleum ticket is sold by the museum at the monument; the park ticket is a separate charge and covers the visitor centre at Ivanova korita and the park's trails. The season sets the calendar: the mausoleum closes on 16 November until 10 April, and Njegoš's birth house closes for the winter too. Njegoš Day, 13 November, is a state holiday kept on 13 and 14 November, both non-working, in the last days of the season.

What to see

• The entrance figures. Two monumental Montenegrin women in black granite flank the entrance like caryatids.
• The chamber. A vault mosaic of 200,000 gilded tiles over niches of Bokelj and Brač marble.
• Njegoš by Ivan Meštrović: a seated figure with an open book.
• The sarcophagus, simple marble with a cross and the state arms, in the crypt.
• The viewing platform behind the mausoleum, which looks over about two thirds of Montenegro, from the Bay of Kotor to Skadar Lake and the mountains of the north; it has its own page as the Jezerski vrh viewpoint.

The climb

From the car park at the end of the road the only way up is the tunnel of 461 steps; there is no lift. The stair, the chamber and the platform are the whole visit, so the time it takes is the time you give the steps and the view. For a longer approach on foot, a marked park trail runs from the Ivanova korita visitor centre to the mausoleum via the Ivanova korita spring, Blatišta and Mali Bostur: 4.8 km one way, about 2 hours, medium.

History

Njegoš asked to be buried on Lovćen, and a chapel was built on the summit during his lifetime; after his death in 1851 Prince Danilo carried his remains up to it. The Austrian army razed the chapel in 1916, and a new one was built in 1925. In 1951, the centenary of his death, the Government of the People's Republic of Montenegro decided to replace the chapel with a mausoleum, and the building designed by Ivan Meštrović was completed in 1974.

Getting there

From Cetinje the road climbs about 10 km to the Ivanova korita visitor centre and on to the mausoleum car park. From Kotor there are two ways up: the old serpentine road past the Kotor serpentine viewpoint, or the Kotor-Lovćen cable car from Dub, 4.2 km from Kotor, to the Kuk station inside the park in about 11 minutes (adult return €20), with shuttle buses from Kotor bus station to Dub. The mausoleum is a separate leg from Kuk by road, not part of the cable-car service, so plan that stretch before you ride up. Driving times below are free-flow estimates on OpenStreetMap data, without traffic or snow.

The park itself has no closing season and rents snowshoes at Ivanova korita in winter, but the mausoleum is closed from 16 November to 10 April.

Nearby

• Jezerski vrh viewpoint, the platform behind the mausoleum.
• Ivanova korita, the park's visitor centre about 10 km above Cetinje, with the marked trails and bike hire; cycling on Lovćen has the loops.
• Njeguši, in the park's buffer zone: Njegoš's birth house, included in the mausoleum ticket and open in summer only.
• Cetinje: the Cetinje Monastery, Biljarda, Njegoš's residence, and the King Nikola Museum; the €20 collective ticket covers the museums and the mausoleum.
• Kotor serpentine, the old road down to Kotor, and the cable car.
• The other sites of the Petrović era are on the monuments page.

Questions

How many steps are there?

461, through a tunnel from the car park on Jezerski vrh.

Is Njegoš's birth house included?

Yes. The €8 adult ticket covers the mausoleum and Njegoš's birth house in Njeguši.

Is the mausoleum open in winter?

No. It opens from 11 April to 15 November, 09:00-16:00, and is closed from 16 November to 10 April. The park itself stays open.

Is the park ticket the same as the mausoleum ticket?

No. The park charges €3 a day at the Bjeloši or Krstac checkpoint; the museum charges €8 (€4 for pupils and students) at the mausoleum.

How far is it from Kotor?

32.7 km by road, about 39 minutes without traffic; the cable car from Dub reaches Kuk inside the park in about 11 minutes, and the mausoleum is a further drive from there.