Hidden places in Herceg Novi and the surrounding area

St Jerome Church stands on Mice Pavlovica Square in the Old Town, with a light-colored facade, a round window above the door and a separate bell tower. The present building was erected in 1856 on the site of an earlier Catholic church.

The church holds a wooden icon of St Anne painted by the Baroque artist Tripo Kokolja. The main altar depicts the Virgin Mary with saints, with the upper part of Herceg Novi and a hill with churches in the background. Alongside the religious scene, the altar offers a view of the older townscape.

You can view the facade and bell tower from the square. To see the artworks inside, contact the Catholic parish beside the neighboring St Leopold Mandic Church. Regular tourist opening hours have not been confirmed. The tourist board's description of the church and collection and St Jerome Church on Google Maps.

The smaller St Leopold Mandic Church stands beside St Jerome. A mosaic of the saint appears on its facade above the round window. It was built in 1688, after the Venetian takeover of Herceg Novi. It was previously dedicated to the Virgin Mary and then to St Francis. Capuchin friars served the church, and the administration of a military hospital was beside their monastery. A school for young people also operated in the monastery.

Its present name recalls Leopold Bogdan Mandic, who was born in Herceg Novi in 1866. At sixteen, he left for a Capuchin seminary in Italy and was later proclaimed a saint. The church's altar painting was created by Ananije Verbinski from Herzegovina. To view the interior, contact the parish office beside the church, as regular tourist opening has not been confirmed. History and location of St Leopold Church and St Leopold Mandic Church on Google Maps.

At 136 Njegoseva Street in Topla, Njegos's school is part of a courtyard with the churches of the Holy Savior and St George. The young Petar II Petrovic Njegos studied under Josif Tropovic at the school beside the Church of the Holy Savior. Alongside reading and arithmetic, lessons included Italian and church chanting. He studied here in the early nineteenth century, before he became Montenegro's ruler.

The museum display tells the story of the school, Tropovic and Njegos's education. Wooden benches and a table suggest the appearance of a classroom in the small stone room, while objects and books are displayed in cases. The exhibition covers the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, with documents, icons and liturgical books that also served as schoolbooks. The Book of Hours (Casoslov), Psalter and Oktoih show how reading was taught through church texts.

The courtyard was also the seat of the Topla Community, the local administration in the days of the Venetian Republic. The school building and administrative buildings shared the same space as the churches. For the indoor exhibition, contact the Topla and Herceg Novi Church Community, which presents the museum. Daily hours for an unannounced tourist visit have not been confirmed. Njegos's school on Google Maps.

Castel Savina is the Obradovic family winery on the town's Savina hillside, at Branka Copica 7d. The vineyard is above the coast, overlooking the entrance to the Bay of Kotor. Grapes from the estate are used for wines that age in its cellar.

Tours may include both the vineyard and the cellar, where the wine ages in oak barrels. When choosing a visit, distinguish a full tour from a tasting alone. The Basic package does not include a walk through the vineyard or the barrel room, the part of the cellar with barrels. To see both where the grapes grow and where the wine ages, choose a visit that explicitly includes both spaces.

Visits require a reservation, and the winery confirms a requested date and time by email. The approach from the gate is very steep. The winery recommends arriving by car or taxi and explicitly discourages walking from the gate to the winery. The contact for arrangements is [email protected] or +382 68 205 189. Tours and booking at Castel Savina and Castel Savina on Google Maps.

Zlijebi is a village in the Herceg Novi hinterland whose houses have stone-slab roofs. Walls, roofs and village boundary walls were built from stone quarried locally. On the roofs, slabs overlap in rows instead of the clay tiles more often seen on the coast. Walking among the houses lets you look closely at the building method that gave the village its recognizable appearance.

The Sikimic family develops tourism in the village through restored stone buildings and a small family museum. A visit to the family collection and a meeting with the hosts are arranged separately.

A road through the Herceg Novi hinterland leads to Zlijebi, and the tourist board also lists marked walking approaches. For a visit to the household, contact the hosts in Zlijebi in advance. The village point on the map is not the start of a walking trail. Zlijebi on Google Maps.

Rose is a small settlement on the northwestern side of Lustica, opposite Herceg Novi. Stone houses cluster beside the harbor and waterfront, so the village is best explored at close quarters on foot along the coast. Across the water, you see the Herceg Novi side of the bay from a different angle than from the town's fortresses. Rose belongs to Herceg Novi municipality, despite being on the opposite shore.

Its position at the entrance to Boka once gave Rose a role as a shelter for sailing ships, a customs post and a quarantine station for seafarers. Much of the settlement took shape in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, during the age of Boka seafaring. Stone facades facing the waterfront and the nearby harbor have preserved the appearance of a small maritime settlement.

You can reach Rose by an arranged boat transfer from Herceg Novi or by land across Lustica. Montenegro Wild Boat lists a transfer departing from Skver harbor, with a return-trip option. For an independent stay in the village, arrange your return separately from a brief stop on an excursion. A waterfront walk does not automatically include access to the private Forte Rose hotel complex. Rose on Google Maps.

In the Kotobilj area, in the Herceg Novi hinterland, parts of the old footpath toward Kameno survive. The path has stretches with carefully laid stone paving and larger blocks along its edges. The Orjen Agency describes the restoration of this path in the final decades of the nineteenth century, when a series of springs along the route was also improved. The Kotobilj spring has two outlets set into a stone wall.

Kotobilj is associated with the battle of 1687, in which Ottoman reinforcements heading toward besieged Herceg Novi were stopped. This event preceded the Venetian takeover of the town.

The Agency for the Development and Protection of Orjen presents the old path and springs. Ask it about the current approach and condition of the footpath. The Kotobilj spring and Zelenac are different places. The map marks the Kotobilj area, not the exact position of the Kotobilj spring, a trailhead or parking. The water's safety for drinking has not been confirmed. The Kotobilj area on Google Maps.

In the village of Tici on Lustica, the Moric family runs Moric Olive Farm. Olive trees grow between stone boundary walls that divide the estate's terraces. Tici is a hamlet of the Mrkovi settlement in Herceg Novi municipality.

A visit takes in the olive grove, traditional olive-processing equipment and an olive-oil tasting. The old stone equipment shows the process used before modern machinery, while the hosts explain the oil they produce today.

For a tour and tasting with the Moric family, arrange a time with the family and confirm whether the visit also includes a meal. The tourist board lists Ilija Moric's contact details as +382 67 603 535 and [email protected]. Google Maps marks Moric Farm, but an older tourist map gives a different position. Confirm the exact arrival point with the hosts when arranging your visit. Moric Olive Farm on Google Maps.