Ostrog by car from Budva

Zdrebaonik stands in Sekulici, on the left bank of the Zeta near Danilovgrad. The monastery is dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, and its church holds the relics of Saint Arsenije of Srem, the second Serbian archbishop and successor to Saint Sava. The reliquary is the focus of veneration and the reason believers combine a visit to Zdrebaonik with a journey to Ostrog.

The present church was built in 1818. There are not enough reliable written records to establish the origins of the first monastery, so traditions about its medieval beginnings should not be confused with the date of the existing church. The church and residences around the courtyard form a convent today, home to a community of nuns since 1991.

One distinctive feature inside is the iconostasis from the early 20th century, the work of the Djinovski brothers. Its decoration is not carved wood: the masonry structure was decorated in plaster, with vine motifs.

Saint Basil founded Ostrog in the 17th century, on a site where older cave shrines had existed and hermits had lived. Looking at the monastery in the cliff, it helps to know that the natural caves are more than a shelter behind the present facade: the churches were created inside them, and the rock remains part of their interiors.

Saint Basil served as metropolitan of Zahumlje during Ottoman rule, at a time of insecurity in the hinterland. He spent the final years of his life at Ostrog, where he died in 1671. His relics are kept in the Church of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. Their veneration keeps Ostrog a living place of pilgrimage.

The Church of the Presentation occupies a cave on the lower level of the Upper Monastery. Its 17th-century frescoes include figures of Saint Sava, Emperor Constantine and Empress Helena. The stone interior remains visible alongside the painted surfaces.

The Church of the Holy Cross stands on the higher level. An inscription records its construction by the monk Isaija in 1665, with Saint Basil's blessing, and its painting by Radul in 1667. Radul also painted on the natural rock surfaces. This makes the shape of the cave part of understanding the frescoes: the painter adapted his compositions to a space without the usual flat walls of a church.

Stairs and passages connect the churches with the terraces. From them, the view opens onto the Bjelopavlici Plain, while the rock immediately above and beside the buildings shows how closely the monastery is tied to Ostroska Greda. The Ostrog vine grows on the upper terrace. Monastic tradition links it to the place where Saint Basil died.

Lower Ostrog stands on a plateau below the cave monastery. Its central church is the Church of the Holy Trinity, built in the 19th century. The residences and courtyard around it show the part of the complex where the monastic community lives and welcomes pilgrims. After the steep approach to Upper Ostrog, the visit here continues among separate buildings and churches on the plateau.

The Church of Saint Stanko the New Martyr stands above the lower complex. It was consecrated in 2004, when his relics were transferred there from the Upper Monastery. They are the hands of Saint Stanko, a boy remembered in church tradition as a martyr for the Christian faith.

While spending time in the courtyard, look at Upper Ostrog high in the rock. The view from the Lower Monastery connects the cave churches with the plateau, churches and residences you are now visiting.