Ostrog by car from Kotor via Grahovo

Carev most spans Slivlje in the southern part of the Nikšić plain, on the old road between Nikšić and Podgorica. Its long row of 18 stone arches crosses land where water from the plain collected when water levels were high. The size of the structure reflects the need to keep the road passable across this broad floodplain.

Designed by Josip Slade, the bridge opened in 1894. A donation from Russian Emperor Alexander III funded most of its construction, and the bridge was named after him. Stonecutters and masons from Boka and Dalmatia worked on it alongside Montenegrin military battalions.

The piers have stone cutwaters shaped to let water flow past. The row of arches is especially clear when viewed from the side. From the roadway, you can see the course of the old road, while the lower approach offers a view of the structure supporting it.

The bridge carried regular traffic between Nikšić and Podgorica until the new road through the Budoš tunnel was built in 1976. Its former role explains why such a large stone bridge stands away from the main route used today.

Lower Ostrog stands on a plateau below the cave monastery. Its courtyard contains the Church of the Holy Trinity, built in 1824 and surrounded by monastery residences. The stone church and surrounding buildings belong to the part of the complex where the monastic community lives and welcomes pilgrims.

The Holy Trinity area has a more spacious courtyard and flatter ground than the churches in the cliff. From its edges, views open across the slopes toward the Bjelopavlići plain.

Above the Lower Monastery stands the Church of Saint Stanko the New Martyr, consecrated in 2004. His relics were moved there that year from Upper Ostrog. Church tradition remembers Saint Stanko as a young shepherd who was martyred for his Christian faith.

Upper Ostrog is built into the almost vertical cliff of Ostroška greda. Behind its white facade are two cave churches, the Presentation of the Virgin and the Holy Cross, connected by passages and stairs in the rock. The natural rock shapes the church interiors, the terraces and the passages through the monastery.

The Church of the Presentation holds the relics of Saint Basil of Ostrog. He built the monastery in the 17th century on the site of a cave previously used for prayer by monks and hermits. Veneration of his relics remains at the heart of pilgrimage visits.

The Church of the Holy Cross was built in 1665, and the painter Radul decorated it with frescoes in 1667. The inscription above the entrance records that it was built through the efforts of Hieromonk Isaia, with the blessing of Metropolitan Basil.

Internal stairs lead to the upper terraces beside the bell tower and Ostrog's grapevine. Church tradition associates the vine's origin with the place where Saint Basil died. The terraces overlook the Zeta valley and the Bjelopavlići plain.