From the ArchivesCreated December 28, 2012Updated June 28, 20264 min readby Pavle Obradović
Bijelo Polje is located in the northeastern part of Montenegro, close to the border with Serbia. It is impossible to miss it, if you travel on the highway from Podgorica towards Belgrade (or the opposite, towards the sea). Picturesque d
Bijelo Polje is located in the northeastern part of Montenegro, close to the border with Serbia. It is impossible to miss it, if you travel on the highway from Podgorica towards Belgrade (or the opposite, towards the sea). The picturesque valley next to the river Lim got its name from the fields of blossoming white flowers! The famous local mineral water "Rada" also owes its name to the same motive.
The area around Bijelo Polje was already inhabited in the Stone and Bronze Ages, especially during the Middle Ages. It developed as a local trade center around Nikoljec, an important cultural and religious center, although the town was first mentioned as Nikoljpazar in 1497.
However, much earlier (1195-1199), here the church of St. Peter and Paul are being built by Prince Miroslav, the brother of Stefan Nemanja, the progenitor of the ruling Nemanjić dynasty. Prince Miroslav was the ruler of Hum (today: Herzegovina), whose territory reached as far as Dubrovnik. The church seat was moved in the 13th century from Hum to the church of St. Peter and Paul. Until then, it was a small, modest, Orthodox church in the pre-Romanesque style, with an unusual appearance - built by the hands of coastal masters. Then it gets two bell towers, each 25 m high. (After the arrival of the Turks, one bell tower will be demolished and the other transformed into a minaret. The mosque existed until 1922, when the church was returned to the Serbian Orthodox community.) However, there is still a Cyrillic inscription on the church portal with the dedication of Prince Miroslav. Inside the temple, past the fragments of other frescoes, a fresco of Prince Miroslav in the mannerly position of the benefactor has been preserved: with a reduced, painted endowment in his hand. The frescoes were painted by excellent painters (fresco painters) at the beginning of the 14th century.
For the cultural heritage of Bijelo Polje, and not only this city, it is extremely important that in the church of St. Peter and Paul in the 12th century, at the behest of Prince Miroslav, he wrote the famous Miroslav's Gospel by hand. It is a completely preserved manuscript book of the Serbian redaction of the Old Slavonic language (the book is missing only one leaf, today in Russia), with about 300 artistic initial miniatures, precisely decorated with colors. Miroslav's gospel is so important that it is supervised by a professional guard during rare exhibitions. For centuries it was kept in the only Serbian monastery on Athos (Sveta Gora, Greece). Today, it is kept as a national treasure in the National Museum in Belgrade. Over time, expensive, completely identical (!) copies were made, one of which is owned by the treasury of the Savina monastery in Herzegnov... If it were not for the humble signature, with which the copyist, the sinful Grigorije Dijak, begs to be mentioned before God, we would not even know the name of the author of this extraordinary work of art.
Church of St. Peter and Paul is located right next to the main road that leads many domestic tourists from Belgrade via Podgorica to the sea.
Church of St. Nicholas, part of the Bjelopolje complex of the Nikoljac monastery, was completed in 1560. It is the largest Orthodox church built during the Turkish rule. It has the form of a basilica with three separate parts and an octagonal dome. The interior of the church was painted with frescoes in the 16th century. Scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist, Christ the Savior and St. Nicholas. The most impressive in the eyes of a modern observer are those frescoes to the right of the entrance, with scenes of suffering in hell. The carved iconostasis of Zograf Radula is a magnificent work of art, with icons from the life of St. Nicholas.
Until its liberation from the Turks (1912), Bijelo Polje had a town made in an oriental style, with cobblestones and inns - caravan trade resting places.
The image of the former Turkish provincial town changed drastically after the Second World War. With the establishment of Socialist Yugoslavia, and the arrival of industry in this region, primarily machinery, forestry and wool, hope for a better future was born. Fifty years later, Bijelo Polje still strives to feed its inhabitants with an emphasis on industry, tourism and agriculture. Recently, the town has a university, which befits the center of Donji Polimlje. Of the many cultural events, the most famous ones should be mentioned: Ratković's poetry evenings and the Festival of Dramatic Amateurs of Montenegro. In Bijelo Polje there is the House of Rist Ratković, the poet, and the Native Museum with an exhibition in the old building of the Gymnasium (from 1905).
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Written by
Pavle Obradović
Pavle Obradović is from Herceg Novi. He was Manager of Montenegro.com, then Director of the Herceg Novi Tourism Organization, and is now Coordinator for Investment and Development Projects at the Municipality of Herceg Novi. He holds a BSc in International Hospitality and Service Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).