OLYMPUS OF MONTENEGRO – This is not a dream, this is reality! Welcome!

If you have ever wondered if Montenegro has its own holy place, it certainly does! 

In no case were you mistaken that it is the mountainous Durmitor, which certainly overshadows all the other mountains both in Montenegro and in the surrounding area with its beauty and attractiveness. 

Many legends and traditions are connected to him, maybe that's why he is so mystical.

According to some old legends, the Greek gods from Olympus chose Durmitor as their resting place. It is known for sure that the Greeks once lived here and perhaps they chose this mountain for the second Olympus. What can a man say and write about the second resting place of the gods, for this entire region and the space that surrounds it and over which he watches as a protector. He watches and watches, along with the fairies that he hides deep in his bosom, with winged horses, that fly from one hill to another. Throughout the long history, many legends have been told about Durmitor, its peaks, caves and lakes, about Pirlitor and Paša's water, about Bukovica Gora, Uskok, Tepak, Lake and Carp heroes. 

In the following, we will tell you some of them so that, when you visit our region and hear the hoofing of horses or the song of the Durmitor Fairies in the winter nights, you will know that these are all just stories and legends. .. or maybe they are not?

Once upon a time, Jezera (today's vast surface area) was all covered by pine forests and pine trees. Then, once there was a thunderclap, it set the pine tree on fire, the fire added, and the wind spread the flames all over the forest. The forest was then full of all kinds of beasts and ghosts. The beasts fled to Durmitor, the fairies to the clouds, and the devil and the witch took refuge in the lake, in the middle of the lake. They built a wonderful castle in it, made entirely of ice crystals, and they live there to this day. And so this tame lake was called the devil's home Devil's Lake. When you swim in it and see that it is the coldest lake in Durmitor, it is like a devil's ice castle and the cold spreads all around. And when a young girl swims across the Lake, the devil immediately jumps out of his castle, grabs her and drags her to the bottom of his ice castle. If, however, the boy swam, then a devil jumps out of the lake, grabs the boy and drags him to his icy chambers at the bottom of the lake. Some say that the devil usually appears after dark and even comes ashore. Sometimes they saw him in the form of a huge parip, and sometimes he appears in the form of a bucking bull with huge horns. Buck grazes grass on the shore, roars by the lake, roars passionately so that everything around shakes and trembles from his voice. 

And some don't say that, but like this:- While Saint Elijah, say the others, raced on his golden chariot across the heavens, everything alive was afraid and trembled in fear of his lightning and arrows. Only the devil defied him, even licked his tongue and mocked him. Saint Ilija urged the people of Jezera to kill the devil, but they refused willingly or unwillingly, out of fear. Then St. Elijah tried to persuade Fiery Mary to roast the devil, but also to punish Jezerce for refusing to kill this insolent rebel on earth. She, they say, chased the devil with fire, but she didn't spare the ponds either. But let's return to the drama between Saint Elijah and the devil. Saint Ilija wanted to fry the devil with lightning, but he always managed to escape and take refuge in a lake in Jezeri. And already the next day, the devil would continue to stick out his tongue and mock Saint Elijah.

In addition to devils, a red-haired winged horse also lives in the lake. On long starry nights, he would come out of the lake and make love to the mares from the stables of the famous Duke Momčilo, who lived nearby in the town of Pirlitor. After the love session, he kicks the fertilized mare in the stomach with his hind legs, so that she does not remain pregnant. On one occasion, just as he was about to kick one of the mares, the pre-arranged shepherds jumped out from the surrounding hills, stole his mare, and forced him to return to the lake. This mare later foaled the winged horse Jabučilo, on which Duke Momčilo flew from Durmitor to Piriltor.

In addition to the gods, who rest on it, Durmitor is also inhabited by fairies. After sunset, they descend to the foot of this mountain and land in flowery meadows and valleys. There they go around seducing, and they seduce the most respectable and the most handsome guys with their charms and beauty. But … always a but. There is a condition for their chosen one, that he does not take anything iron with him, if he thinks that he is getting into a circle with them and that he is cheating on one of them. Once upon a time, there was a man from Pivlja called Todor. It was, they say, seen as enrollment, and valid as work. But when Todor goes to the fairies one evening to look into one of them's eyes and steal honey from her lips, he forgets himself and takes a small bag with him. The fairies sense it, rush in, pick up the poor guy and throw him from the beam into a do. There, Todor fell into a deep sleep, never to wake up. That's the name of that wonderful do under Durmitor, full of meadow flowers, cold water and fragrance Todorov to.

A caravan route used to pass near the lake, connecting the coast with the north and beyond. On one occasion, when Marko Kraljević was walking this way, over Bukovička gora towards Pirlitor, where he was staying with his uncle Vojvoda Momčilo, he heard a gun shot that killed his dog. In disbelief, he exclaimed: "As the gun appeared, the hero disappeared" and as a sign of that event, he cut a large boulder with his saber, which still stands here today.

We also have to tell you how our most beautiful mountain eye was created - Black Lake, at the price of never bathing in it. Saint Sava and a lawyer from one of the monasteries under Durmitor came across this lake. The monastery was then located in the middle of the town, in a deep valley, where the Black Lake is today. The monks welcomed Saint Sava nicely, but they suspected that he was really a saint, so they agreed to play a trick on him. So, they slaughtered a rooster overnight and put it in the saint's coffin. The next day, Saint Sava continued on his journey, and the monks rushed after him, shouting: - "Hey, father, what a saint, why did you steal a rooster from us tonight? - What do you say, God and the angels are with you! Should I steal the Monastery! - Yes, yes" - the monks shouted in unison and snatched the bag from Saint Sava's shoulder. And behold, the bag really contained a slaughtered rooster. Saint Sava then became angry and said: – “May the earth break open where your Monastery is now, that place was not called a town or a village, but was called the Black Lake”. Then he revived the slaughtered rooster and it became the Black Grouse. When the monks returned, they were amazed by the miracle: the earth broke open and the Monastery with the town sank into the abyss, and in the abyss a lake spun – the Black Lake, and on the surface of the lake, in a spinning wheel, the black cap of a monk was spinning.

And then, when you visit the mountain where the gods rest and in the evening you hear the fairies' wheel or the hooves of winged horses, or you see a monk's hat while swimming in the Black Lake, remember these stories and know that they are, after all, all just legends. But are they really?