Vraćenovići: Stećci, the Church on Lake Bileća and Starevina

The topics range from stone monuments and cultural interpretation to accommodation, farmstead cheese and traditional dishes.

Stećci: locations and different forms

Three Stećci sites lie in Vraćenovići along the road from Petrovići to Bileća. The first site has eight undecorated slabs and a chest-shaped monument adorned with arcades and columns. A nearby site contains 35 monuments: 26 slabs and nine tall chest-shaped monuments. The two groups therefore differ both in size and composition. At the first site, a single decorated monument stands alongside the plain slabs, while slabs and tall chest-shaped monuments make up the larger group at the other site.

The Church on Lake Bileća and nearby points of interest

The Church of St. George on Val belongs to Vraćenovići in Montenegro and lies on the shore of Lake Bileća. It is considered a symbol of the shared life of Serbs from Montenegro and Herzegovina. This gives the area another cultural point of interest in addition to the Stećci.

Crvena stijena lies near Vraćenovići and is a Palaeolithic archaeological site. Kosierevo Monastery is also nearby. As an additional geographical point of reference, Vraćenovići lies near the border crossing to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Starevina: accommodation and rural cuisine

Starevina offers accommodation in Vraćenovići in double bungalows and apartments. The farmstead also has a mini cheese dairy that produces cheese. Those interested in local food can find traditional dishes there, such as kačamak, cicvara, cheese pies, greens, apples, prosciutto and sausage.

The culinary offering thus includes both farmstead cheese and a wide selection of traditional foods. Starevina also supports walks along country lanes and is recommended for motorcycle tourists. Accommodation, cheese production and activities on country lanes thus represent different aspects of Vraćenovići’s rural character.

Nikšić as a separate context

The wider destination of Nikšić has its own connection to the Stećci: the Lapidarium is an acropolis of Stećci, ancient tombstones from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, and a special cultural asset of the Municipality of Nikšić. This perspective on the Stećci adds to the cultural context, while the sites in Vraćenovići are distinguished by their own groups of monuments.

Nikšić also offers a variety of nature and activity themes. Trebjesa was designated a protected natural asset and natural monument in 2000; it is also a picnic area in a forest park and lies a few hundred metres from Nikšić city centre. On the high plateau of Lukavica in the northeast of the municipality, there are high mountains, fields, lakes and 365 springs. National and local hiking trails, as well as the national cycling route TT4, run through the area. Lukavica is considered one of Europe’s most important plant habitats.

Discover more destinations: Vilusi, Grahovo, Nikšić.

Go to the wider travel overview: Nikšić.