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28 June, 2020 - The village of Suscepan, 1.5 km from the center of Herceg Novi, and at an altitude of 300 metres was, according to the architect Marin Đurašin (1954 - 2000), the centre of ancient Troy.
Đurašin’s theory (he also wrote a book on the subject, although his death prevented him from publishing it) was that the whole of Boka Kotorska was ancient Troy, and that Suscepan was its centre. Troy, or Elijah (ancient Greek: Τροία [Troía] or Τροίας [Troías], or Ίλιον [Ílion] or Ίλιος [Ílios]; Latin: Troia, or Ilium; Turkish: Truva or Troya), was a legendary city and the scene of Trojan war, which is partly depicted in Homer’s Iliad, an epic poem in ancient Greek composed in the 9th or 8th century BC.
This assumption did not have a greater impact, nor did it lead to greater tourist interest in the village, which offers a beautiful view of the entrance to and the interior of the Bay of Kotor.
The village of Suscepan was assumed inhabited in the Middle Ages and has been under Turkish, Venetian, Austro-Hungarian rule. It had, in the main, followed the fate of Herceg Novi, then that of the whole of Boka Kotorska and Montenegro.
Until World War II, the locals lived mainly from agriculture and livestock. Olive oil and wine were produced, grain was sown and vegetables were planted. Fruit was also grown - most often figs. A few inhabitants worked in nearby Herceg Novi - mostly in trade and tourism.
Suscepan - Bostanj Spring
Today, no-one in the village is exclusively engaged in agriculture. Most often it is an additional activity or carried out solely to meet individual need.
Until the increased construction at the end of the last century, the village looked like a typical coastal Boka village. The houses were built at a distance of 500 - 700 metres, and the hamlets were connected by paths paved with stone. They were built on slopes and along the perimeter of rare arable land. Today, almost every house has a tarmac - or more often concrete - road.
The few inhabited old houses in the village are built of local stone. Upstairs is a living area for the family, and the ground floor-barn is used to accommodate wine, oil, grain, flour and other foodstuffs. In some houses on the ground floor there are cattle.
In front of the village houses is a part of the yard - terraces - paved with stone and surrounded by a low wall-seat. In some yards there was also a “bistjerna” for collecting rainwater. The terrace was covered with vines and served as a small extension of the house proper, for gathering after a hard day’s work. In the summer, sometimes a table was brought out, so people could eat on the terrace.
The garden also has a threshing floor - a round paved surface covered with stone slabs. This was used for threshing grain.
The village does not have an official centre, but the population used to gather around the Bostanj spring. The spring is channelled, the area around it paved and has a stone wall-seat. In addition to this spring, there is also a spring in Smokovac and Zirina.
Saint Stephen’s Church
During religious festivals, locals gather around the village church of Saint Stephen. The church was built at the end of the 19th century, but it is assumed that there had been a building there previously. The church is a single-nave, vaulted building with an apse of a semicircular base and a bell tower on a pediment with three bell windows. It is built of stone, but all the walls, except at the front, are plastered. According to the motifs from the preserved parapet slab, which is today in a museum, it is assumed that there was a pre-Romanesque church on the site, dating from the 10th or 11th century.
The Church of Saint Stephen
The iconostasis is the work of Corfu icon painter N. Aspioti. Around the church is a gate with tombs. It is thought by some that the church was built by the Bosnian king Tvrtko (founder of Herceg Novi) or Stevan Kosača.
The Legend of the Village's Origin
Legend has it that the Bosnian King Tvrtko I began the construction of the church of St. Stephen in the centre of Herceg Novi, inviting the most famous masters of that time from Kotor and Dubrovnik. But one morning, the stone disappeared from the square and appeared about 1.5 kilometers from the city - in its current location. The king was advised to build a church there, which he did. According to the legend, the settlement that started to grow around the church was named Sveti Stefan (Saint Stephen) - later Suscepan.
Each to Their "Own" Troy
German entrepreneur and amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann began excavations on the hill of Hisarlich in today's northwestern Turkey, near the sea coast, southwest of the Dardanelles under Mount Ida in 1873 and claimed that this was the location of ancient Troy.
Researcher Ilija Ogorelica claims that ancient Troy was located near Belgrade, more precisely on the border of the settlements of Rušanj, Ripanj and Lipovačke šume. Milutin Jaćimović claims that Troy is "the Serbian historical capital of Skadar".
Mexican Roberto Salinas Price (1936 - 2012), philologist and wealthy Mexican passionate homerologist, first put forward the idea in the 1980s that Troy was on the east coast of the Adriatic and that the Trojan War had taken place in the Neretva Valley, and that the holy the city of Troy was on the site of present-day Gabela.
There are also theories that Troy was located at Ljubuški in Croatia, and also in Macedonia,… but with no scientific evidence supporting the claims.
/S.Kosić/
Mugoša: Current Circumstances with COVID-19 a Return to the Previous Situation
Serbian Orthodox Church Follows counter- COVID-19 Recommendations.
DRAFT LIST PUBLISHED
Officials in Brussels in discussions on which countries to be allowed entry EU
June 26, 2020 - Montenegrin citizens will be able to travel to European Union countries from July 1st, Euronews reports.
The portal states that officials in Brussels are discussing which countries will be allowed entry on that date.
It is understood that there are two lists - the list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter, and those for whom the EU borders will remain closed.
Euronews reports that the draft list has already sparked controversy as sources revealed that the borders will remain closed to U.S. citizens, where more than 2.4 million coronavirus cases have been reported.
With regard to the countries of the region, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania are also on the list of countries from which entry into the EU will be allowed on July 1st.
Decision Confirmed
June 26, 2020 - The EU-Montenegro Intergovernmental Conference, at which the chapter is to be officially opened, will be held on Tuesday, June 30, at ambassadorial level.
The permanent ambassadors of the European Union member states in Brussels confirmed the decision to open Chapter 8 - Competition with Montenegro, TVCG’s correspondent in Brussels has learned.
The EU-Montenegro Intergovernmental Conference, at which the chapter is to be officially opened, will be held on Tuesday, June 30, at ambassadorial level, reports RTCG.
Earlier, representatives of the 27 member states in the EU Enlargement Council Working Group (COELA) spoke positively on Tuesday about opening the last negotiation chapter with Montenegro.
The decision to open negotiation chapter 8 with Montenegro was made during the last week of Croatia's presidency of the EU Council, which Germany will assume on July 1st.
Chapter 8 - Competition, is one of the most demanding negotiation chapters that always opens and closes among the last, according to the official website of the Office for European Integration of Montenegro.
The SNP considers NKT's behavior scandalous.
Gojko Perović: NKT is a dangerous toy in the hands of politicians
Mugoša: Political reasons do not drive the new NKT measures
The number of COVID-19 cases by municipalities:
Counter COVID-19 measures for Bijelo Polje
Regular press conferences again.
No new costs of donated funds
The number of COVID-19 cases by municipalities:
Five COVID-19 patients at the Clinical Center
NKT banned religious and political rallies
NKT measures for Rožaje
NKT on the occasion of the event in Budva
Montenegro's potential as a location also presented at the Film Festival
The "Otter" project directed by Srđan Vuletić and screenwriter Stefan Bošković will be showcased at the "Co-Production Speed Meeting Session"
June 25, 2020 - At this year's Cannes Film Festival, the Montenegro Film Centre will, for the fourth time, present contemporary Montenegrin cinematography within the virtual pavilion, which is part of the online version of the film market "Marché du Film", offered in a different format due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Montenegrin project "Otter" (working title: "Valley of Monuments"), from director Srđan Vuletić and screenwriter Stefan Bošković, and produced by Artikulacija Film from Podgorica, will be presented at the "Co-Production Speed Meeting Session", which will be held for the first time within an online edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
Young director Sara Stijović will be presenting her project "Djina" about Djordjina ‘Djina’ Markuš, with concept and screenplay by Nataša Nelević, and produced by Branimir Žugić and the company "LIVE production", which was selected for the programme "La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut Français" within the Film Festival in Cannes. The feature-length documentary "Djina" is the first Montenegrin and the only European project selected this year for La Fabrique Cinéma.
"The virtual environment, running from June 22 to 26, brings together more than 8,500 participants, with 250 stands and 60 pavilions. In order to support the film industry globally, as well as its professionals, the online version of the ‘Marché du Film’ will offer more than 1,200 online screenings for participants, as well as the opportunity to purchase rights to more than 2,300 feature films. More than 150 virtual panel discussions, talks and round tables, concerts and presentations are planned.
At online meetings with film professionals and representatives of institutions from all over the world, the Montenegrin virtual stand offers accredited visitors access to an overview of film projects from the country, which are in various stages of production. Capacities and possibilities of interest to foreign co-producers, production companies and other interested parties will be promoted," the Film Centre highlights. Montenegro has been present at the Cannes Film Market since 2011.
Location potential also presented
This year, for the purposes of promotion, the Montenegro Film Centre enabled accredited market participants to download the electronic version of two catalogues: "Montenegro - Film Destination", which shows the potential for filming in Montenegro, and "Montenegrin Cinema 2020", which presents current film projects at different stages of production.
During the festival, the Montenegrin Media Desk (Creative Europe) will also be active, with representatives participating in panel discussions and online meetings.
Supreme State Prosecutor Initiates Proceedings Only Under Political Instruction
“Katnić is now recommended urgently as a candidate for the new term of office of the party prosecutor,” states MANS.
June 25, 2020 - Reacting to recent events, the Network for Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS) stated that "it is clear to every citizen that the current Prime Minister and the Director of the Police Directorate, as well as the Special Prosecutor, are mere executors of the arbitrariness of one man, and that Montenegro has turned into an open dictatorship of Milo Đukanović.
The latest events in Budva represent the flagrant, brutal violence of the party police against the citizens of Montenegro. The latest footage, which shows police officers kicking and beating people who are already helpless and restrained, is appalling evidence of the brutal political abuse of captive institutions," the MANS statement reads.
Duško Marković’s statement that "what is happening now is not because the state is weak, but because it is patient and wants to meet reason with reason, and yet if we are not met with this reason, the state will find a solution in 15 minutes," they called a threat, and direct confirmation that the regime is willing to use all means to preserve its power.
"The Special Prosecutor’s Office which keeps all MANS’ criminal charges against the top regime officials in a drawer and initiates proceedings only under political instruction, has become involved in the political showdown. Selective justice is the worst kind of justice, and MANS will continue to report any violation of the law, without political calculations, because no one should be untouchable. Katnić is now recommended urgently as a candidate for the new term of office of the party prosecutor,” states MANS.
They add that “repression is always a sign that dictatorial regimes are losing power, and the more they stifle civil freedoms and trample on laws, the more certain changes are. That has happened everywhere, and it is going to happen in Montenegro as well.”
Remax Property of the Week
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07 Mar 2018, 08:08 AMWelcome to Total Montenegro News!
Interview of the week
- 09 Nov 2020, 20:21 PM
Ranka Vukasovic Botica on Montenegro as a Maritime Country
