12 February 2019 - In cooperation with "Compania de Vinos Montenegro" and the 50th Festival of Mimosa, Lazure Hotel & Marina invites you to their first Balkan Wine Fest, where you can get acquainted with a wide selection of more than 110 wine labels from the best wineries throughout the region. The event will take place on February 16, from 12 pm to 8 pm.

During the Balkan Wine Fest, all guests will be able to sample premium varietals from some of the best wineries; all while music performers keep the party lively during this wonderful experience. Lazure & Marina has managed to gather distinguished winemakers, allowing you to learn all about new and exciting varieties from the experts in a relaxed hotel setting. To complement your festival experience, review the first-class accommodations of the luxurious Lazure Hotel.

The wineries that will be presented during Wine Fest are Krgović Winery (MNE), Winery Vučinić (MNE), Volarevic Winery (CRO), Winery Maneghetti (CRO), Winery Dubrovnik Basins (CRO), Winery Enjingi Kutjevo (CRO), Winery Vukoje (BIH), Dalvin Winery (MKD), Winery Kovacevic (SRB), Winery Zvonko Bogdan (SRB), Winery Erdevik (SRB), Winery Vertus (SRB), Winery Temet (SRB), Winery Kiš (SRB), selected Italian wineries: Astoria, Antonini, Monte Del Fra, San Marzano, Rivera and Brandy/ Rakijas: Kovilj Monastery, Gorda, Stefan Nemanja, Pevec Cellar and Yeni Raki.

Balkan Wine Fest offers a unique wine tasting experience that aims to stimulate all of your senses. Aside from an altogether pleasant experience, the organisers have prepared interesting prizes for the visitors: 3 guests will have the opportunity to win an overnight stay with dinner and breakfast for two people in Lazure Hotel.

Ticket price for the Balkan Wine Festi is 10 EUR per person, and there is a 15% discount on group ticket purchases (3+).  Booking is available via Facebook or by phone number: +382 69 373 120 (Viber).

Lazure Hotel & Marina, where the Wine Fest will take place, is located on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro at the entrance to the picturesque Kotor Bay, next to the beautiful medieval city of Herceg Novi. The complex includes a luxury boutique hotel, which offers exceptional standards of service inspired by Montenegrin hospitality values.

10 February 2019 - In the last article "Meet the Montenegrin Museums", we presented the National Museum of Montenegro and its material and spiritual history. The National Museum of Montenegro is a complex cultural institution which consists of different museums and many buildings, churches, and houses that comprise each museum, all of which are housed in buildings of utmost historical and cultural importance. This institution was officially founded in 1896, the year of enacting the Law on Royal Montenegrin Library and Museum. On this occasion, we are presenting you with the Heritage Museum Pljevlja, located in the Northern Montenegro, in the city of Pljevlja. Even though this city is located in Northern Montenegro, its approximate altitude is 770 m (2,530 ft).

In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial roads and cultural streams, with important roads connecting the littoral with the Balkan interior. In 2011, the municipality of Pljevlja had a population of 30,786, while the city itself had a population of about 19,489. The municipality borders municipalities of Žabljak, Bijelo Polje and Mojkovac in Montenegro, as well as the republics of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a total area of 1,346 km² (520 sq mi), it is the third largest municipality in Montenegro.

Culture and education are all present throughout the history of Pljevlja and its region. The Holy Trinity Monastery is the richest treasury of cultural and spiritual life of the Orthodox Serbs from the Middle Ages to the present times. The school in the Holy Trinity Monastery has been working continuously since the 16th century. In 1823, a primary school in Pljevlja started working. The school in Dovolja monastery worked since the 18th century. The significant date in the history of education in Pljevlja is the opening of the Pljevaljska Gymnasium in 1901., while The Heritage Museum Pljevlja is a treasure trove of the rich historical and cultural heritage of the city and region.

The Heritage Museum Pljevlja collection begins with works of prehistoric art from the 1st to the 4th centuries BC. This museum stands for one of the largest museums in Montenegro, and it was founded in 1952. Its holdings amount to over 5,000 items, of which only a small number are on permanent display, including the Pljevlja diatreta or cage cup.

The Pljevlja diatreta is a well-preserved cage cup from the 4th century AD and it is made of transparent colourless glass with a cobalt blue web. The inscription, also in cobalt blue, reads "VIVAS PANELLENI BONA" (eng. "For good life of Panelleni"). It is said that the inscription is missing the letter M, so the full sentence should be "VIVAS PANELLENI BONAM". The cup is also a very rare example of a complete Roman cage cup , or diatretum and its roots lead back to a famous workshop in Cologne. The cup is not on display but can be looked at a scheduled appointment with the museum administration.

The Museum also holds, collects, processes and presents museum items from the area of Pljevlja. The holdings have been classified into several collections: archaeological, ethnographic, historical, numismatic and artistic.

Valuable items from the archaeological collection illustrate the significance of archaeological sites in the area. The items found at the site of Medena stijena (rocks in the Ćehotina River Canyon) are of particular importance. The items found in this site belong to the cultures of early Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Copper and Bronze Age. The stone tools from the oldest layers of Medena stijena show certain similarities with the excavations at Franchti Cave in Argolid Gulf in Greece. The items from Medena stijena and several more natural shelters in the Canyon of Ćehotina River prove that this area of Montenegro was intensively inhabited during late Pleistocene. There are also remnants of an ancient town known among scientists as the "Municipium S". 

Based on the displayed epigraphic monuments, it may be presumed that this town existed in 150 BC. The monuments from this site are particularly interesting and significant for comprehending the development of the Roman art, here intermingled with the local, Illyrian-Celtic tradition.

If you are interested in learning about Montenegrin history or want to find out more about city of Pljevlja, be sure to check out Facebook Page of Heritage Museum Pljevlja.

10 February 2019 - Lipa Cave, the first cave adventure in Montenegro offering a charming diversity of karstic features to provide visitors with a unique experience of the underground world, will open for visitors from April 1.

Located near Cetinje and visited by more than 20 thousand people per year, the cave will traditionally open its beautiful and wild system of 2.5 km of passages and halls for visitors in April.

The representatives of the tourist company Lipa Cave recently stated for Mina-business News Agency that they were delighted with last year's season. "As each year we noted the growth in the number of visitors, so we expect this trend to continue in the future," said the company's PR.

"We invite all readers to be informed about further activities and news on our website www.lipa-cave.me and social networks," the company said.

Ticket prices will, as they say, remain the same as last year. The ticket price for adults is 10.9 EUR, for children up to five years 1 EUR, and for children from 5-15 years old 6.9 EUR. The family package costs 29.9 EUR and includes two adults and two or three children up to 15 years of age. The price includes parking, a train drive to the cave and back, a tour of the cave, a guide and insurance.

As explained by the tourist organisation Lipa Cave, the cave was open for tours since 2015. All visitors of the cave are accompanied by local guides who are kind, helpful, and well-trained. Cave tours are easily accessible as Lipa Cave is located only 33 km from Budva, 35 km from Podgorica, and 5 km from Cetinje. Its built-in trails and modern lighting make it even more attractive and perfectly safe. The cave is preserved in line with high environmental conservation standards. Only a year later from its opening websites like Montenegro Travel, Trip Advisor, as well as many others recommended Lipa Cave as one of the best places to visit in Montenegro. All the efforts of the TO are focused on providing an unforgettable cave adventure to the cave’s visitors, which has placed it on the list of the attractions you must see in Cetinje.

09 February 2019 - The Office of the Prime Minister, in cooperation with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, will provide the necessary support to developing planning documentation, which is the basis for the implementation of development projects in Northern Montenegro. This was concluded at a meeting with the representatives of the municipalities of the Northern Montenegro and the Directorate of Public Works, sponsored by the Office of the Prime Minister Duško Marković.

Putting the focus on timely adoption of planning documentation, as a condition for successful implementation of development policies, is a confirmation that the Government understands the needs of cities and local communities from the Northern Montenegro, the meeting highlighted.

There have never been more funds for the infrastructure development of the Northern Montenegro and the country as a whole. Therefore, it is necessary for municipalities to contribute to the realisation of the Government's development policies.

With our support, the municipalities facing the challenges of adopting plans will in the coming period incorporate planning documentation into a valid normative framework, the Office of the Prime Minister stressed.

The Office of the Prime Minister will directly monitor the process of harmonising the missing planning documentation together with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism. The lack of planning documentation should not be a restriction for the development of the North Montenegro, the meeting concluded.

The meeting was attended by presidents or representatives of the municipalities of Andrijevica, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Gusinje, Kolašin, Mojkovac, Petnjica, Plav, Plužine, Pljevlja, Rožaje, Šavnik and žabljak, as well as the Head of the Directorate of Public Works.

09 February 2019 - Take a look at the programme within the Public institution Museums and Galleries of Budva during February. In addition to the permanent settings in the Museum of the City of Budva, the Memorial House "Red Commune" and the Memorial House "Reževići", there are three exhibitions available in February:

1. Documentary exhibition "First discovery of ancient necropolises" in the Modern Gallery "Jovo Ivanović";
2. Documentary exhibition "Ljubiša in Coastal newspapers" at Memorial House "Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša";
3. Documentary exhibition "Budva Region in the World War I (1914-1918)" at Memorial House "Red Commune".

The documentary exhibition "The First Discovery of the Ancient Necropolises in Budva" chronologically and thematically shapes details related to the accidental, but sensational discoveries of ancient necropolises that came to light at the end of the 1930s during the construction of the Avala Hotel. The exhibition was created with the cooperation of colleagues from the museums in Split, Zagreb, Belgrade, and Boston, where the material discovered in Budva is kept. PI Museums and galleries Budva organized this exhibition on the occasion of two important jubilees - 80 years since the discovery of ancient necropolises and 15 years since the founding of the Museum of Budva.

The authors of the exhibition are Lucije Đurašković, Jovo Đurović and Dušan Medin. The exhibition will be open until the end of February at the Modern Gallery "Jovo Ivanović" (Cara Dušana 19, Old Town Budva). The gallery invites all interested to come and learn more about the discovery of ancient necropolises in Budva, as well as about the ancient past of this city.

The documentary exhibition "Ljubiša in the Coastal newspapers" is an expression of the need to emphasize the excellence of Stefan Mitrović Ljubiša (1822-1878) and the role of the local community in protecting his character and works by recalling the existence of "Coastal newspapers" (Montenegrin: Primorske novine) and their significance for Budva. "Primorske novine" was a local paper and was published from 1972 to 2003. The authors of the exhibition are Marijana Martinović and Đorđije Bato Boljević. All interested visitors can views the exhibition at the Memorial House "Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša" (Cara Dušana 13, Old Town, Budva) by the middle of February.

The documentary exhibition "Budva Region in the First World War (1914-1918)" will be set up in the Memorial House "Red Commune" (Obala 111, Petrovac) during February 2019. The authors of the exhibition are Marko Janketić and Goran Bubanja.