Montenegro: Monastery of St. Archangel Michael

Not far from the Tara Bridge is St Michael Archangel Monastery.
Dragan the taxi driver drove through an unpaved dusty road down the mountain to get there. The Monastery is almost by the Tara River.

The Monastery of Archangel Michael or Manastir Arhangel Mihailo is located some thirty kilometers from Žabljak.
It was built in the 13th century and was restored in 1998.

The Monastery is very small, but as usual with Orthodox monasteries, really beautiful.

The bell tower is separated from the main church.
Inside, there are icons of St Michael, the Sacred Family, and some Saints.
There are no frescoes, just icons and relics.

Outside there is a fountain with an icon from St Michael, where spring water flows.
It is reputed to be holy water blessed by the Archangel.

A Montenegrin family was visiting the Monastery at the same time.
A very gentle nun invited us to drink some coffee, with a few cookies, biscuits and Easter Eggs! She invited us to the small building where the clerics live.

The living room is decorated with pictures from the Patriarch, and they also have a TV and an old radio (no pictures).
The nun told us that it hasn’t always been like this. Before this one, she lived in another monastery, where there was not even tap water!

The nun said she was very pleased to see someone from so far away coming to her Monastery. And I replied that I was very pleased to feel so welcomed! She gave me another Easter egg before going.

Once again, those meetings are the best part from a trip, even if there is a language barrier.
It’s not the first time I have a warm welcome to an Orthodox Monastery.
Even the previous day I had been given a gift at Cetenje Monastery.

On previous trips, I've invited to drink coffee at Đurđevi Stupovi Monastery in Serbia, I was given a special guided visit at Sopoćani Monastery, also in Serbia, had a chapel with outstanding frescoes opened specially for me in at Boyana Church in Bulgaria…

Yes, it has always been a good experience to visit Orthodox Monasteries.
After this visit Dragan drove me back to Žabljak, where I took a bus to Podgorica before continuing to Kotor.

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