The Castle Church or The Church at Ćupur was constructed where the first Cetinje Monastery, the seat of the Zeta Metropolitanate in the 15th century, once stood. Nikola I Petrović Njegoš ordered the royal church to be constructed in 1886 (his castle is located in front of the church). However, soon after its construction, it had to be taken down because of poor construction, which saw construction start again in 1890, under the direct command of the King, so that nothing goes wrong. The church is dedicated to the Ascent of the Mother of God.
The beautiful iconostasis inside the church was completed by Russian zografs in the 19th century. Archeological excavations at the site uncovered the foundations of the original Cetinje Monastery, and it was there that the first printing shop in the Balkans once operated. The Crnojević printing shop operated between 1493 and 1496 and printed books in Cyrilic. It was established thanks to the patronage of the then-ruler of Montenegro, Đorđe Crnojević, and the first book printed there was the Cetinje Oktoih ( also called the Osmoglasnik, this is an Orthodox Christian prair book, consisting of poems about the Resurrection of Christ).
In 1989, the remains of King Nikola I and his wife, Milena, were brought to the church from the Russian Orthodox Churchi in San Remo, Italy. In 1961, the Church at Ćupur was proclaimed a national and cultural treasure of Montenegro.
Author of the text:
Marijana Niković licensed tourist guide for Montenegro.
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