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13 July memorial, Virpazar

13 July memorial, Virpazar

The plaque at the old bridge and the bronze on the lookout above Virpazar, for the men who attacked the Italian garrison on 13 July 1941

Commemorative plaque and bronze sculpture · 20th century · Virpazar

Photo: Avi1111 dr. avishai teicher · CC BY-SA 4.0

Virpazar, the village on Lake Skadar in Bar municipality, remembers 13 July 1941, when men from the village and the surrounding hamlets attacked the Italian garrison stationed here on the first day of Montenegro's uprising. The memorial has two parts: a commemorative plaque at the old stone bridge in the middle of the village, and a bronze sculpture on a lookout above it, honouring the Partisans who were killed. Both belong to the cultural-historical ensemble of Virpazar, which takes in the village's three bridges, the stone embankment, the whole of Besac hill with its fortress and the buildings at its foot. 13 July is now Montenegro's Statehood Day.

Getting there

The memorial is in the centre of the village, which has a station on the Bar-Belgrade railway. By car Virpazar is 22.9 km and about 28 minutes from Podgorica Airport, 30.1 km and about 36 minutes from Podgorica, 15.8 km and about 18 minutes from Sutomore through the Sozina tunnel, 26.1 km and about 29 minutes from Bar and 25.3 km (about 32 minutes) from Petrovac. The times are free-flow driving times.

What to see

  • The plaque at the old bridge, the 19th-century stone bridge in the village centre, recording the attack of 13 July 1941.
  • The bronze on the lookout above the village: a sculpture to the fallen Partisans.
  • The ensemble around it: the three bridges, the stone embankment, and Besac fortress on the hill above the village.

History

Under the Italian occupation of 1941 Virpazar held a garrison. On 13 July 1941, the day the uprising began in Montenegro, men from Virpazar and the villages around attacked it. The plaque and the bronze honour the Partisans who were killed; the bronze is attributed to the sculptor Mirko Ostoja. The old bridge where the plaque stands dates from the 19th century.

Nearby

Questions

What happened in Virpazar on 13 July 1941?

Men from the village and the nearby villages attacked the Italian garrison on the first day of the uprising. The plaque at the old bridge and the bronze on the lookout honour the Partisans killed.

Where exactly is the memorial?

The plaque is at the old stone bridge in the village centre; the bronze stands on the lookout above the village, a short climb away.

Is the Virpazar ensemble protected?

The village's three bridges, the embankment, Besac hill and the buildings at its foot form the cultural-historical ensemble of Virpazar, part of the area's cultural heritage.

History

  1. 13 July 1941

    The attack

    Men from Virpazar and the nearby villages attacked the Italian garrison in the village on the first day of the uprising, now Montenegro's Statehood Day.

  2. 20th century

    Memorial

    A commemorative plaque at the 19th-century old bridge and a bronze sculpture on a lookout above the village honour the Partisans killed. The bronze is attributed to Mirko Ostoja.

How we check facts

Sources

Bar Tourist Organisation, Old bridge and commemorative plaque, Virpazar · Bar Tourist Organisation, Cultural and historical ensemble of Virpazar · Lonely Planet, July 13 Uprising Memorial (secondary: bronze on a lookout) · Wikipedia, List of Yugoslav World War II monuments and memorials in Montenegro (secondary, unreferenced: Mirko Ostoja) · Zakon o državnim i drugim praznicima (13 July, Statehood Day), data.gov.me · Monteput, Sozina tunnel (Virpazar-Sutomore) · OSRM routing (car, OpenStreetMap data, ODbL; times without traffic)

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