Montenegrins, tsrnogortsy (self-name), people in Yugoslavia, the main population of Montenegro.

Kashuba M.S. Montenegrins (SIE, 1974)

Montenegrins - a nation in Yugoslavia. The total number is 508.8 thousand people. (1971, census). Most Montenegrins live in Socialist Republic Montenegro (355.6 thousand people), as well as in Serbia (125.3 thousand people) and in other republics of the SFRY. Montenegrins speak the Shtokavian dialect of Serbo-Croatian. Most believers are Orthodox, there are also Muslims. The territory of modern Montenegro in the 7th century was inhabited by tribes ethnically close to the ancestors of the Serbs who lived in Raska. In the 9th century they adopted Christianity (from Byzantium).

Guskova Elena. Montenegrin character - from legend to reality

Montenegrins stand out brightly even against the motley Balkan background. The state grew on the Montenegrin character, on love for Russia - independence, on the independence gained in the 19th century, modern Montenegro, unlike any other, was built. Therefore, in order to correctly assess the present of the Montenegrin state, one must know the people, their past, and most importantly, those traits of their character that determined their understanding of the world.

Kashuba M. S. Montenegrins (NiRM, 2000)

Montenegrins, tsrnogortsy (self-name), people in Yugoslavia, the main population of Montenegro (380.4 thousand people, 1991). The total number in Yugoslavia is over 520 thousand people. 15 thousand people live in the USA, where they emigrated in the 19th - early 20th centuries, 5 thousand people live in Albania. They speak the Shtokavian dialect of the Serbian language. Writing based on Cyrillic. Believers are mostly Orthodox; there are Muslims. The mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans took place in the 6th-7th centuries. The local population was mostly assimilated, partly pushed to the west and to the mountainous regions. Slavic tribes - the ancestors of the Serbs, the Montenegrins and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina (actually Serbs, Duklians, Tervunians, Konavlyans, Zakhumlyans, Narechans) occupied the basin of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, the southern part of the Adriatic coast. Territorial and state associations on the territory of Montenegro (until the 11th century - Duklja, then Zeta, from the 15th century - Montenegro) during the Middle Ages were independent or were part of other Yugoslav states, as well as Byzantium, Bulgaria and Venice ...

Actually, the ancestors of the current Montenegrins at first everything was exactly the same. The people from the ancient Slavic Panonia (Transcarpathia) wandered around Europe, fought a little, someone was forced out of their homes, someone was forced out. He built settlements, raised cattle, fished, hunted. Adopted the experience of ancient civilizations, taught the younger ones.

Family ties in Montenegro are still very strong.

Why is it that until now, when talking with a Montenegrin, you can hear: “I am a citizen of Montenegro, but I am not a Montenegrin, I am from Bokel!” Or: "From the main I!". Where, why exactly in European Montenegro until the 21st century did the distinction between nationalities and tribes come?

Nationality is not everything

The southern Slavs, at the suggestion of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, began to be called "Serbs" in the 11th century. However, it was not the Emperor who invented this name for the people - “Lusatian Serbs”, the fifty-thousandth Slavic people, still living in Germany, received their generally recognized name by self-name. So it was with the Balkan Serbs. The emperor simply used the self-name of one of the most prominent peoples who already had princely and later monarchical dynasties by the 11th century. The Serbs were lucky that they were called the way they called themselves. There are many other cases, for example, Latvians still call Russians "Krivichi", after the self-name of the disappeared neighboring Slavic tribe. And no one in the world calls the Finns “Suomi”, by their self-name, however, they are not offended.

But inside the Slavic tribes, or rather, not inside, but between them, everything was more complicated, including in the names of peoples. For example, the early feudal principalities of Bulgaria and Macedonia were formed with a strong assimilation of the Slavic people with the Bulgars (relatives of the present Tatars) and the Macedonians of Greater Greece. In turn, those Greek Macedonians had already been assimilated with the Greeks and all the peoples of the Peloponnese since the time of Alexander the Great. Naturally, the Bulgarian-Macedonian kings had a great temptation to intercept the brand in the name of the nation from the famous ancient expansionist Alexander the Great, which was done. And now modern Greece, which rightly includes the region of Macedonia, is still suing the Slavic state of Macedonia for the same name.

Another example. The Croatian Slavs were assimilated with the remnants of the citizens and slaves of Rome in the Dalmatian region, with the later Italic tribes, and received their own name. Although before the division of Christian denominations into Catholic and Orthodox in 1054, “Croat” was more of a nationality among the Serbs, and not a nationality. Until now, Dalmatians, claiming the genetic heritage of the Romans, and other nationalities stand out in Croatia.

The Montenegrins no doubt grabbed their share of genetics from the Illyrian tribes. We got something from the Turks and even from the Mongols who besieged the ancient Ulcinj. And also took from all the others who have been here, little by little. Some anthropologists single out a certain Dinaric subrace in the Caucasoid race, to which the majority of the modern population of Montenegro corresponds. Therefore, on the basis of the ethnos, the process of forming a nationality is underway - and this is already a language, and culture, and traditions.

It's not about race, it's not about genetics. The point, of course, is in the self-identification of people, in that rich cultural and historical baggage, the “experience” of the people, which it carefully guards and passes on from generation to generation.

Let's look at this self-identification. Statistics - a dry thing. About 30% of the republic's population considers themselves Serbs. Albanians - 7%. Bosniaks or Bosans - another 7% (Serbs who converted to Islam, earlier in the Balkans their nationality was defined as "Muslims", paradoxically by religion). Nowadays, many local Muslims are defined as Montenegrins of the Muslim faith, which, of course, is more logical and eliminates confusion between Bosniaks (Slavs, Muslims) and Bosnians (residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina). By the way, during the collapse of Yugoslavia, Montenegro turned out to be the most tolerant country, unless, of course, we take mono-ethnic Slovenia as a comparison. There are Croats, Greeks and many others in the country. There are quite a lot of nationalities and confessions in Montenegro, but there were no serious inter-ethnic and national conflicts that are typical for Bosnia or Serbia. And this also characterizes the traditions of the country.

Nationality is history and geography. And not only.

So, what other nationalities can you now find among the inhabitants of Montenegro, among the Montenegrins, who are about 40% in the country?

First of all, brats. Brdo is Serbian for mountain. Therefore, all the Slavic inhabitants of the north of Montenegro called themselves Brdyans, that is, "mountain people". Culturally and traditionally tied to Serbs from the southern regions of Serbia, many of them still identify themselves as Serbs, and not Montenegrins. They were formed as a nationality with the successive inclusion of Slavic tribes in the region of the Principality of Raska, the Principality of Zeta, in the Serbian Kingdom in the 11th - 17th centuries. The Brdians were baptized in the 11th century along with the inhabitants of modern Serbia. After the Ecumenical Council of 1054, which finally divided the Christians, the Brdyans moved to the Orthodox confession. The self-name "Brdyan" is now almost disappeared from everyday life.

Bokeltsy - the most understandable name of the nationality, these are the inhabitants of the bay, Boka Kotorska, and the entire coastal region, except for the area of ​​Herceg Novi. They were formed in the area of ​​the three main strong medieval cities of Kotor, Risan, Perast. The first two of them were never captured by the Turks at all and eastern influence on the inhabitants was avoided. There was no cultural or genetic assimilation by the Ottomans in these cities. It is the resilience of the Bokelians that allows modern Montenegrins to assert that Montenegro has never been completely under the sultans. The culture of the Bokelians, up to the style of national costumes and music, was strongly influenced by Venice, the “big brother” of medieval Bokel sailors and merchants. Bokelians are longtime allies of Montenegrins. Inside the country, they never call themselves Serbs, sometimes only in emigration (as many Belarusians and Ukrainians in emigration call themselves Russians). The overwhelming majority of Bokelians are also Orthodox, however, it is among them that Catholics are often found in Montenegro. Self-name is used actively, up to complete self-identification by nationality (not Montenegrin, not Serb, but Bokelets).

Herzegovinians. Residents of Herceg Novi and its area, descendants of the subjects of the Slavic Duke Stefan Kosachi, from the XIV-XV centuries, went from Herzegovina to the sea in the city of Novi. The old name of the city is Sveti Stefan, the new one is Herceg Novi. The western title duke, after which the dukedom and nationality were named, is equal to the Slavic "voivode". The remnants of medieval Herzegovina in the ups and downs of history are divided between Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, in the last power, the prefix "Herzegovina" is an atavism. The inhabitants of the country, the Bosnians, define their nationality as Bosniaks, and even in the Christian part of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Republika Srpska, the people define their nationality as Serbs, not Herzegovinians. Herzegovinians compactly remained only in Montenegro. They at one time experienced the influence of Venice and Italy, but to a lesser extent than the Bokelians. Herzegovinians are mostly Orthodox. The self-name "Herzegovina" is rarely used, more often when geo-referenced to the place of residence.

Actually Montenegrins. Inhabitants of the coast from Grbalj (a valley near Tivat) to the city of Bar, and north to Podgorica. The people were formed during the creation of the medieval Principality of Zeta and the Kingdom of Dukla in the 15th-18th centuries. During the three-hundred-year period of formal stay under the Ottoman Empire, there were periods of anarchy on the territory of the country, when the tendency to identify themselves as Serbs, or Montenegrin Serbs, prevailed among Montenegrins. This was facilitated by the consolidation in the anti-Turkish liberation struggle of the tribes of Montenegro and the knezhevins of Serbia (in Serbia, "knezhevina" is an analogue of the Montenegrin tribe, see below). Echoes of this can be found in the poems of the great Montenegrin poet Vladyka Peter II Petrovich Njegus.

And yet, even with all the resilience of the Bokelians, during the period of the first (1918) and second (1944) Yugoslavia, the division into nationalities was largely erased. Some older people still proudly say: “I am a Yugoslav!” They rarely remember nationalities, all the more rarely do young people remember this. But it is worth going to the tribe - and you will be proudly told the story of a kind up to the 20th generation.

O tribes, o manners!

So why is tribal identification so persistent among Montenegrins?
The desire of the Slavs for self-government is well known. The South Slavs, even before the appearance of the early medieval division, formed zhups - a kind of self-governing regions. The zhupas were ruled by the zhupy cathedral. Even some sovereigns arose precisely as an elected person from such a parliament. For example, the Great Župan Stefan Nemanja founded the whole Serbian Nemanjić dynasty, which ruled both Serbia and Montenegro. In this dynasty, later there were Orthodox kings, even crowned by the Catholic Pope, so much the Vatican recognized the strength and power of the sovereign.

Kotor, again, at first was successfully ruled by the classical Slavic veche, later "modernized" in the Venetian manner - with a judge, a prince (in the Latin-Italian way they were later called prior, comes, rector). And such a democracy did not prevent the army from successfully defending the city from invaders, and entrepreneurs from running a profitable business. However, all this was for the time being, as in Veliky Novgorod in Russia.

In the XV-XVI centuries, both Serbia and Montenegro came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. If in Serbia at the same time some kind of centralized power of the Turkish sanjaks (Turkish regions ruled by the governors of the Sultan) was formed, then in Montenegro there was practically no Turkish or local power. The people spontaneously resisted the Turks, Montenegrin haiduks robbed Turkish caravans, pirates robbed ships. From time to time, cities or monasteries with their leaders - priests recaptured entire regions from the Turks and ruled there independently. The Turks raged, but from their fortresses and centers of sanjaks they could not do anything with the proud mountain people. On the contrary, for example, there were cases when the Montenegrins took the Podgorichi sanjak under siege, seeking a fair trial for the massacre of a fellow tribesman.

It became necessary to introduce some Administrative division countries. The southern Slavs had already lived in the power of the Slavic feudal sovereigns - the Montenegrin princes Crnojevic, Serbian princes and kings Nemanich, Vojislav Levich, the Bosnian king Tvrtko and the Macedonian king Samuil. This power was destroyed by the Turkish invasion. Restoring the government, which was designed to give protection and patronage to the laity, was not an easy task under the conditions of occupation. And then they remembered the old tribes and zhups. Cattle-breeding and other farms united together with Zhupan villages into a tribe, which only remotely retained the signs of early tribal tribes, but in fact was a more modern unit. local government. Tribes in Montenegro were divided into several territories, "nakhi". The hierarchy of management was as follows: house - brotherhood - tribe - nakhia. The tribes had their own traditions and way of life, they elected their elders - serdars, governors, knezes.

Since then, relations with the Turks have become contractual. De facto Montenegro received autonomy. Filuria (tax) for the Sultan was collected by local elders, Montenegrins served in the army only on their own land.

The first tribal area was located southeast of the Zeta River, west of Lake Skadar and north of Boka Kotorska. This is the region of Cetinje and four nahas (Katunskaya, Riechskaya, Tsrmnichi and Leshanskaya). Cetinets, Tsutsi, Cheklichi, Negushi, Ozrinici and Pieshivtsi lived there.

The second region was located in the mountainous part between the Zeta and Lim rivers, the tribes of the Seven Mountains lived there - Belopavlichi, Piper, Morachany, Kucha, Vasoevichi, Rovchany, Drobnyaki.

Banyans - Rijans and Nikshichi - tribes of ancient Herzegovina.

Coastal tribes - Mainy, Pobory, Pashtrovichi and Grblyan.

Therefore, the tribal organization that existed in the 15th-18th centuries made it possible to create large settlements and economic units. Until now, you can see and hear the "Podmaine Monastery", "Kucha salt factory", "Niksic town", "Glukhi Do village". It can be seen that the peoples of Montenegro subsequently formed mainly from Nakhi groups, except for the “cosmopolitan” Bokelians, who included representatives of all tribes capable of living the life of the sea.

The opportunities for the tribes were different, but the self-organization of the people made it possible to prepare the country for the struggle for independence and liberation from the Ottoman occupation. For example, for the battle with the Turks in 1613, the Kuchi tribe could put 1650 people under arms, Belopavlichi - 800, Piperi - 700, Clementi - 650, Hoti (Northern Albanian tribe) - 600 people. For such a struggle, a more serious consolidation of forces and resources was required. Consolidation was carried out by the lords of Montenegro starting from the 17th century, but things were not going well. The tribes were mired in internecine strife, like some Sioux and Mohicans.

About impostors. How "Russian Tsar Peter III" united the Montenegrin tribes.

Surprisingly successfully stopped intertribal feuds by the impostor Stepan Maly. A certain healer of short stature and obscure origin (later they said - a runaway Russian officer) introduced himself as the emigrated Russian Tsar Peter III. Based on the popularity of Russia in Montenegro, Stepan Maly ... declared himself a Montenegrin sovereign and introduced a centralized state power. The tribes of Montenegro, jealous of the exaltation of their own, submitted to the "Russian" Varangian. Stepan executed for the slightest manifestation of disobedience, collected tribute and troops, once even defeated the Turkish army. Prince Dolgoruky arrived in Montenegro from St. Petersburg, arrested the impostor, but ... soon released him, being amazed by his success in the field of organizing the sovereignty of the state. Stepan involuntarily made good preparations: internal strife practically ceased, and on the basis of a religious association under the rule of Orthodox rulers, a theocratic, and two centuries later, a secular principality was created in the 18th century.

When creating the principality, the tribes had different fates. For example, the same Kuchi refused to pay taxes to the first secular prince of Montenegro, Danila Petrovich Negush. During the rebellion, they were practically destroyed, almost all the men of the tribe, numbering about 300 people, were slaughtered. The rest of the tribes then resigned themselves to the princely budget, and both the guard and the schools appeared in the country. Prince Danilo, who left a lot of good things to Montenegro, even in the 19th century lived according to the laws of the mountains of his people and ruled with fire and sword.

The memory of the people.

The history of the Montenegrin tribes did not just remain in the minds of people. She left monuments to modern times and still operating temples, monasteries and enterprises. For example, the world-famous island-hotel "Saint Stefan" was created by the strong Pashtrovich tribe on the reef as a fortress and international trading city. That is why the memory of those medieval tribes is proudly kept in every Montenegrin family. It is kept as a symbol of the true, internal, natural, even without strong-willed kings and dictators, the desire of the people for freedom and sovereignty. That is why this memory of the tribes in Montenegro is so strong. It is not so much the knowledge of one's family tree as the knowledge of the milestones in the life of people who managed to survive, organize themselves, establish both economic life and the struggle against occupation. This is the awareness of the national dignity of their people.

Serbs

Serbs, people, the main population of Serbia (6428 thousand people). They speak the Serbian language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. In those regions where Serbs live together with other peoples, they are often bilingual. Writing based on Cyrillic. Most believers are Orthodox, a small part are Catholics and Protestants, there are Sunni Muslims.

The ethnic history of the Yugoslav peoples, including the Serbs, is associated with the mass migration of Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries. The local population was mostly assimilated, partly pushed to the west and to the mountainous regions. Slavic tribes - the ancestors of the Serbs, Montenegrins and the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina occupied a significant part of the territory in the basins of the southern tributaries of the Sava and Danube, the Dinaric Mountains, the southern part of the Adriatic coast. The center of the settlement of the ancestors of the Serbs was the region of Raska, where an early state was formed in the 2nd half of the 8th century.

In the middle of the 9th century, the Serbian principality was created. In the 10th-11th centuries, the center of political life shifted either to the southwest, to Duklja, Travuniya, Zahumia, or again to Raska. From the end of the 12th century, the Serbian state intensified its aggressive policy and in the 13th-1st half of the 14th century significantly expanded its borders, including at the expense of Byzantine lands. This contributed to the strengthening of Byzantine influence on many aspects of the life of Serbian society, in particular on the system of social relations, art, etc. After the defeat at Kosovo Field in 1389, Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1459 was included in its composition. Ottoman domination, which lasted almost five centuries, held back the processes of consolidation of the Serbs.

During the period of Ottoman rule, the Serbs repeatedly moved both within the country and abroad, especially to the north to Vojvodina - to Hungary. These movements contributed to a change in the ethnic composition of the population. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire and the intensified movement of the Serbs for liberation from foreign power, especially the First Serbian Uprising (1804-13) and the Second Serbian Uprising (1815), led to the creation of an autonomous (1833), and then independent (1878) Serbian state. The struggle for liberation from the Ottoman yoke and state unification was an important factor in the formation of the national identity of the Serbs. There were new major population movements in the liberated regions. In one of the central regions - Shumadia - the absolute majority were immigrants. This area became the center of consolidation of the Serbian people, the process of national revival began. The development of the Serbian state and market relations, economic and cultural ties between individual regions led to some leveling in the culture of their population, the blurring of regional borders and the strengthening of a common national identity.

The historical destinies of the Serbs developed in such a way that for a long time they were separated politically, economically and culturally as part of different states (Serbia, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary). This left an imprint on the culture and life of different groups of the Serbian population (some specificity remains today). So, for the villages of Vojvodina, the development of which was carried out according to plans approved by the authorities, a typical layout is in the form of a rectangle or square with wide streets, with a rectangular central square around which various public institutions are grouped. Separate elements of the culture of the Serbian population of this region were formed under the influence of the culture of the population of Vojvodina, with whom the Serbs lived in close contact.

The Serbs are aware of their national unity, although the division into regional groups (Shumadi, Uzhichan, Moravian, Macvan, Kosovo, Srem, Banachan, etc.) is preserved in the memory of the people. There are no sharply defined boundaries in the culture of certain local groups of Serbs.

The unification of the Serbs within the framework of a single state took place in 1918, when the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created (later the name and partly the borders of this state changed). However, after the collapse of the SFRY, the Serbs again found themselves divided by the borders of the countries that emerged in the post-Yugoslav space.

In the past, the Serbs were mainly engaged in agriculture - agriculture (mainly cereals), horticulture (the cultivation of plums retains a special place), viticulture. An important role was played by cattle breeding, mainly of the distant-pasture type, and pig breeding. They were also engaged in fishing and hunting. Crafts - pottery, wood and stone carving, weaving (including carpet weaving, mostly lint-free), embroidery, etc. - have received significant development.

The Serbs were characterized by a scattered (mainly in the mountainous regions of the Dinaric massif) and crowded (eastern regions) type of settlement with a diverse form of planning (cumulus, ordinary, circular). In most settlements, quarters were distinguished, separated from each other by 1-2 km.

The traditional dwellings of the Serbs are wooden, log (they were widespread in the middle of the 19th century in forested areas), as well as stone (in karst areas) and frame (Moravian type). Houses were built on high foundations (the exception is the Moravian type), with four- or gable roofs. The oldest dwelling was single-chamber, but in the 19th century the two-chamber dwelling became predominant. Stone houses could have two floors; The first floor was used for business purposes, the second - for housing.

The folk clothes of the Serbs vary considerably by region (if there are common elements). The oldest elements of men's clothing are a tunic shirt and trousers. Outerwear - vests, jackets, long raincoats. Beautifully decorated belts were an obligatory accessory for a man's costume (they differed from women's in length, width, and ornament). Characteristic leather shoes such as moccasins - opanki. The basis of the women's traditional costume was a tunic-shaped shirt richly decorated with embroidery and lace. Women's costume included an apron, a belt, as well as various vests, jackets, dresses, sometimes oar. Folk clothes, especially women's, were usually decorated with embroidery, woven ornaments, cord, coins, etc.

The public life of Serbs in the past was characterized by rural communities. Various forms of mutual assistance and joint work were widespread, for example, when grazing livestock. The Serbs had two types of family - simple (small, nuclear) and complex (large, zadruzhnaya). Back in the first half of the 19th century, the zadruga was widespread (up to 50 or more people). Zadrugs were characterized by collective ownership of land and property, collective consumption, virilocality, and so on.

Orally folk art Among the Serbs, a special place is occupied by the epic genre (youth songs), which reflects the historical fate of the Serbian people, their struggle for freedom. Folk dances are characterized by a circular movement (kolo), close to a round dance.

The cardinal socio-economic transformations that took place in the life of the Serbs in the 2nd half of the 20th century, the transition of a significant number of them from agriculture to industry, the service sector, and the growth of the intelligentsia lead to some leveling of culture. However, the Serbs, who have defended their independence and freedom in the centuries-old struggle, carefully treat historical and cultural monuments, folk architecture, traditional crafts, and oral folk art. Folk traditions are combined with innovations in the layout of dwellings, the cut and decoration of clothes, etc. Some elements of traditional culture (clothing, food, architecture, crafts) are sometimes artificially revived (including to attract tourists). Traditional folk art is preserved - decorative weaving, pottery, carving, etc.

Bulgarians

Bulgarians, people, the main population of Bulgaria. The number in Bulgaria is 7850 thousand people. They speak the Bulgarian language of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. Writing based on Cyrillic. There are two groups of dialects - eastern and western. Believers are mostly Orthodox, there are small groups of Catholics and Protestants; significant group of Muslims.

The main role in the ethnogenesis of the Bolgars was played by the Slavic tribes who moved to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries. Other ethnic components are the Thracians who lived in the east Balkan Peninsula from the Bronze Age, and the Turkic-speaking Proto-Bulgarians, who came in the 670s from the Black Sea steppes. Thracian features in the traditional culture of the Bulgarians can be traced to a large extent south of the Balkan Range; in the northern and western regions of Bulgaria, the layer of Slavic culture is brighter.

The origins of Bulgarian statehood go back to the Slavic tribal associations of the 7th century - the Slavinians from Byzantine authors. It was further developed with the formation of a political association of the Slavs of Misia and the Proto-Bulgarians, who brought a centralized organization. The synthesis of two social traditions marked the beginning of the Bulgarian state. The dominant position in it was originally occupied by the Proto-Bulgarian nobility, therefore the ethnonym "Bulgarians" gave the name to the state. With the expansion of the boundaries of the First Bulgarian Kingdom (formed in 681) in the VIII-IX centuries, new Slavic tribes and small groups of Proto-Bulgarians entered into its composition. The formation of the Slavic-Bulgarian state, the development of commodity-money relations contributed to the consolidation of the Slavic tribes and the assimilation of the Proto-Bulgarians by the Slavs. Assimilation was carried out not only due to the numerical predominance of the Slavs, but also because their economic and cultural type created a broader and more stable basis for socio-economic development in the Balkans. An important role for ethnic unification was played by the adoption of Christianity in 865, as well as the spread of Slavic writing at the end of the 9th century. At the end of the 9th-10th centuries, the term "Bulgarians", which used to mean subjects of Bulgaria, acquired the meaning of an ethnonym. By this time, the process of the ethnogenesis of the Bulgarians and the formation of the nationality had basically ended. During the period of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the culture of the medieval Bulgarians reached its peak. At the end of the 14th century, the Ottoman conquest led to the deformation social structure Bulgarians: the nobility ceased to exist, the trade and craft layer in the cities significantly decreased.

Until the 18th century, the carrier of ethnic culture was mainly the peasantry. The language, customs, traditions of the rural community, as well as the Orthodox faith, played a pronounced ethno-differentiating role; monasteries acted as custodians historical memory Bulgarians and their cultural heritage. The fight against the oppressors, which took different forms supported national identity. It was reflected in folklore (Yunatsky and Guidutsky epics). Part of the Bulgarians underwent Turkish assimilation, the other part (in the Rhodope Mountains), having converted to Islam, retained their native language and culture.

The traditional occupations of the Bulgarians are arable farming (cereals, legumes, tobacco, vegetables, fruits) and animal husbandry (cattle, sheep, pigs). Various crafts are developed in the cities, industry was born in the 19th century. Agrarian overpopulation led to the development of leisure activities (including those abroad), among which horticulture and construction crafts are especially well known. Modern Bulgarians are employed in diversified industry and mechanized agriculture.

Women's traditional clothing is waist with two panels (in the north), with one panel (locally in the south), a sundress (sukman) in the middle zone of the country and swing (saya) in the south (sukman and saya - with aprons). Shirt in the north with poliks (triangular inserts), in other areas tunic-shaped. Men's clothing - white cloth with tight pants and maid clothes (jacket) to the knees or to the waist (in the west) and dark cloth with wide pants and short maid clothes (in the east). Both types - with a tunic-shaped shirt and a wide belt. In the villages, some of its modified elements from factory fabrics are preserved: aprons, sleeveless jackets, scarves, occasionally for the elderly - sukmans, wide belts, etc.

Traditional social life is characterized by customs of mutual assistance; the patriarchal foundations of the family are a thing of the past.

A lot of originality is preserved by folk festive culture. New Year's greetings according to the old custom - visiting the homes of relatives and friends, who are patted on the backs with a decorated dogwood branch (a symbol of health), while pronouncing words from a ritual song. In the villages of Western Bulgaria, mummers walk in zoomorphic masks, decorated with bird feathers, with bells on their belts - survakars (the popular name for the New Year is Surva godina). They are accompanied by comic characters: some of them ("the bride") had a connection with the fertility cult. The holiday ends in the morning on the square with the good wishes of the survakars and a general round dance. In these customs, ancient Slavic and Thracian traditions are synthesized.

Two civil holidays are specific for Bulgarians: Day of Slavic Literature and Bulgarian Culture on May 24, dedicated to the compilers of the Slavic alphabet Cyril and Methodius and figures of Bulgarian culture; Day of Remembrance of the Freedom Fighters June 2. Festivals of humor and satire, carnivals organized in the city of Gabrovo, famous for its folklore, are widely known.

Croatians

Croatians, people, the main population of Croatia (3.71 million people, 1991). The total number of 5.65 million people. Croats speak the Croatian language of the southern subgroup of the Slavic group of the Indo-European family. The dialects are Shtokavian (it is spoken by the main part of the Croats, a literary language has developed on the basis of its Ikavian subdialect), Chakavian (mainly in Dalmatia, Istria and the islands) and Kajkavian (mainly in the vicinity of Zagreb and Varazdin). Writing based on Latin graphics. Believers are Catholics, a small part are Orthodox, Protestants, and also Muslims.

The ancestors of the Croats (tribes Kachichi, Shubichi, Svachichi, Magorovichi, etc.), having moved along with other Slavic tribes to the Balkans in the 6th-7th centuries, settled in the north of the Dalmatian coast, in Southern Istria, in the interfluve of the Sava and Drava, in northern Bosnia. At the end of the 9th century, the Croatian state was formed. At the beginning of the 12th century, the main part of the Croatian lands was included in the Kingdom of Hungary, by the middle of the 15th century Venice (which had captured part of Dalmatia in the 11th century) took possession of the Croatian Primorye (with the exception of Dubrovnik). In the 16th century, part of Croatia was under the rule of the Habsburgs, part was captured by the Ottoman Empire (during this period, part of the Croats converted to Islam). To protect against the Ottoman invasion, a fortified strip was created (the so-called Military Border); its main population (called border guards) were Croats and Serbs - refugees from Eastern Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia. At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century, the lands of the Croats completely became part of the Habsburg Empire. From the second half of the 18th century, the Habsburgs intensified their policy of centralization and Germanization, which in 1790 prompted Croatia to recognize its dependence on the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian authorities began to pursue a policy of Magyarization. In the 1830s and 1840s, a socio-political and cultural movement (Illyrianism) unfolded, aimed at reviving the national Croatian culture. In 1918, the Croats and other Yugoslav peoples of the disintegrated Austria-Hungary united into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 - Yugoslavia); part of the Croats of the Adriatic fell in 1920 under the rule of Italy. After the 2nd World War, the Croats entered the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (since 1963 - SFRY), from which the independent Republic of Croatia emerged in 1991.

Due to the difference in historical destinies and geographical conditions, 3 historical and ethnographic regions inhabited by Croats have developed - the Adriatic (Primorye), Dinaric and Pannonian. However, there are no clear boundaries between them. Regional groups are preserved (Zagortsy, Medyumurtsy, Prigortsy, Lychans, Fuchki, Chichi, Bunevtsy, etc.).

Traditional occupations are agriculture (cereals, flax, etc.), horticulture, viticulture (especially in Primorye), animal husbandry (in mountainous regions - transhumance), and fishing (primarily in the Adriatic). Crafts - weaving (mainly Pannonia), lace making (Adriatic), embroidery, pottery with a special firing method (in the Dinaric region), wood, metal, leather processing.

The emergence of many cities (Zadar, Split, Rijeka, Dubrovnik, etc.) on the Adriatic coast is associated with the Greek and Roman eras. They are characterized by narrow steep, sometimes stepped streets with stone two-three-story houses. In lowland Croatia, cities arose later, mainly at crossroads as trade and craft centers. Rural settlements were of two types - crowded (part of the plains of Croatia, Primorye and islands) and scattered (predominant in the mountains, also found in Dalmatia). Villages with street planning are widespread, especially in the flat part. The traditional stone dwelling (mountainous regions, Primorye, islands), log or frame with a gable roof. In hilly areas, houses were built mainly one-story on a high foundation, on the coast and on the islands - two-story. Chimneys of stone houses sought to decorate beautifully in order to demonstrate the wealth of the owner. The layout is mainly two-part, although a three-part house has long existed. An oven was used for heating and cooking.

Traditional clothes are mainly made of homespun linen (Pannonia), cloth (Dinaric region), in Primorye also made of silk fabrics: for men - a tunic-shaped shirt and trousers, jackets, vests, capes, raincoats, belts with metal trim (men's and women's), shoes - opanki (from a single piece of leather), boots; for women - a long or short tunic-shaped shirt, decorated with lace (Primorye) or embroidery and a woven pattern (Pannonia and the Dinaric region), blouses, sleeveless jackets, belts, aprons, wide pleated skirts, raincoats, etc. Festive clothes were richly decorated with embroidery, lace , coins and other metal decorations, especially in the Dinaric region.

The Croats have long preserved communal traditions - mutual assistance, self-government, etc. Back in the 19th century, there were remnants of male unions, a large (friend) family. The decomposition of the zadrug began earlier in Primorye, in other regions of Croatia their mass divisions were noted at the end of the 19th century.

The heroic epic occupies a significant place in the oral folk art of the Croats. A folk drama is developed, the elements of which are included in the calendar (for example, Shrovetide) and family rituals. Songs such as ditties are common, most often performed during dances. Round dances (kolo) or pair dances.

Urban culture is widespread among modern Croats. Many work in industry, in transport, in the service sector. A national intelligentsia was formed.

Macedonians

Macedonians - South Slavic people, which arose as a result of the assimilation of the ancient population of the Balkan Peninsula (ancient Macedonians, Thracians, etc.) with the southern Slavs. The total number is about 2 million people. The language is Macedonian. Macedonian belongs to the South Slavic languages. The Macedonian city of Ohrid in ancient times was the center of Slavic writing and culture - in particular, it was from there that Saint Clement of Ohrid was born, according to the annals, who created the classic version of the Cyrillic alphabet. The Macedonian language is similar to Bulgarian and Serbian, but has its own linguistic specificity. Significant grammatical and lexical changes have taken place in the Macedonian language, which distinguish it from the literary language of neighboring Slavic peoples (a different form of the perfect, other definite articles, other rules for using verb tenses, etc.). Despite this, nationalist Bulgarians do not recognize the existence of a separate Macedonian language distinct from Bulgarian and consider it a dialect or variant of Bulgarian.

Religion - mainly Orthodoxy, Protestantism is also widespread.

Significant development has been higher education. In 1939 in Skopje there was only a department of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Belgrade (about 120 students). In 1971/72 academic year in 9 faculties of the University of Skopje, founded in 1949, as well as in 11 other higher educational institutions More than 32 thousand students studied in Macedonia, in 2005 over 180 thousand students.

There are a number of scientific institutions and societies: institutes - national history, folklore, economic, hydrobiological, geological. Society - physicists and mathematicians, geographers and others. The Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts was established in 1967.

In 1971, 80 newspapers (with a total circulation of 21,736,000 copies) and 53 magazines (with a total circulation of 705,000 copies) were published in Macedonia; 668 titles of books and brochures were also published with a total circulation of 3,634,000 copies. The central print organ of Macedonia is the daily newspaper Nova Makedonija, founded in October 1944, published in the city of Skopje (an organ of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Macedonia).

Broadcasting in Macedonian has been carried out by a radio station in Skopje since December 1944. Regular television broadcasts began in SRM from 1964.

In 1971, Macedonia had 16 clinics and general hospitals, 28 other medical hospitals with 9,000 beds (about 500 doctors), over 1,000 polyclinics, outpatient clinics, dispensaries, consultations, first-aid posts (over 600 doctors, more than 400 dentists and dentists). On the territory of Macedonia there are a number of resorts, tourist centers.

The wood carving dating back to the 12th-14th centuries has a brightly folklore character; in XVII-XIX centuries realistic figures of animals and people are woven into the floral ornament. The school of the city of Debar (a combination of Greek and Venetian influences, elements of baroque and rococo) is known for carving on iconostases.

Wood carving and other historically established branches of decorative and applied arts (silver chasing, embroidery, carpet weaving) are developing in the SRM as folk crafts.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries, prerequisites for the development of secular musical culture appeared on the territory of the SRM. Cultural and educational societies arose, which played a significant role in the development of national musical art (the first society was founded in 1894 in Veles). In 1895, a brass band was created in Skopje, and in 1907, the Vardar singing society. In the 1900s, the activity of the first professional musician A. Badev, a student of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and M. A. Balakirev, began. In 1928, the music teacher S. Arsich organized the first music school in Macedonia in Skopje, in 1934 the Mokranjac music school was founded there, and in 1937 a string quartet was founded. The 1930s include the work of professional composers - S. Gaidov, Zh. Firfov and others. In the late 1930s, a group of performers and composers led an active concert activity and promoted Macedonian music: P. Bogdanov-Kochko, I. Juvalekovsky, T. Skalovsky, I. Castro. The works of composers M. were published for the first time. During the years of the People's Liberation War of 1941-1945, mass patriotic songs and vocal works were created.

Among the composers of the 1960s and early 1970s are T. Prokopiev, B. Ivanovski, V. Nikolovski, T. Proshev and others, who work in the genres of opera, ballet, symphony, chamber, vocal, instrumental, choral music. In Skopje there are: the Philharmonic (founded in 1944), the State Opera at the Macedonian Folk Theater (founded in 1947), a secondary music school, and a department of music (opened in 1953) at the Pedagogical Institute. A choir (founded in 1945) and a string quartet (founded in 1946) work on the radio. The Union of Composers was created.

Montenegrins

Montenegrins- people, the main population of Montenegro (460 thousand people). The total number is 620 thousand people. They speak the Shtokavian dialect of the Serbian language. Believers are mostly Orthodox.

The culture and way of life of the Montenegrins has much in common with the Serbs, however, the isolation associated with natural conditions(mountains), the centuries-old struggle against the Ottoman yoke for independence and, as a result, the paramilitary life slowed down the socio-economic development of Montenegro and contributed to the long-term preservation of the patriarchal-tribal foundations. Although ethnic composition Montenegrin tribes (Vasoevichi, Piperi, Kuchi, Belopavlichi, etc.) was quite motley (they included refugees from different areas countries, as well as groups of Albanian origin), according to popular beliefs, all members of the tribe had a common ancestor and were related by blood. The traditional occupations of Montenegrins are cattle breeding and agriculture. After the proclamation of socialist Yugoslavia in 1945 and the creation of the Republic of Montenegro in Agriculture Montenegrins introduced mechanization and new agricultural technology, industrial enterprises arose. The former cultural backwardness of the Montenegrins is disappearing.

The Montenegrins' original applied arts (wood and stone carving, artistic metal processing, embroidery, etc.), oral poetry, music, and dances were further developed.

Montenegro has long had rich folklore. Religious works, lives of saints, breviaries, etc. have been preserved from the Middle Ages. Manuscripts of A. Zmaevich (1624-49), I. A. Nenadich (1709-84) are known; "History of Montenegro" (1754) by V. Petrovich (1709-66), "Messages" by Peter I Petrovich Negosh (1747-1830), etc.

Most researchers attribute the beginning of the development of new Montenegrin literature to late XVIII- 1st half of XIX centuries Its founder is a poet and statesman Peter II Petrovich Negosh (1813-51), whose work continued the heroic traditions of the folk epic. In his works, Negosh created a poetic picture of the life of Montenegro, glorified the struggle of Montenegrins and Serbs for liberation from the Ottoman yoke; the pinnacle of his poetry is the dramatic epic poem The Mountain Crown (1847), imbued with the idea of ​​the unity of the southern Slavs. Njegos also played a prominent role in the development of early Romanticism in Serbian literature.

Most of the scientific institutions of Montenegro are located in Titograd: the highest scientific institution of the republic is the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Montenegro (founded in 1976), Historical Institute, Institute of Geological and Chemical Research, Hydrometeorological Institute, Seismological Station; in Kotor - Institute of Marine Biology.

Bosnians

Bosnians- Slavic people inhabiting Bosnia and Herzegovina. It arose as a result of the conversion to Islam of the Serbs living in the Ottoman Empire. The number of 2100 thousand people. The language is Bosan (a dialect of Serbo-Croatian). The writing is in the Latin alphabet of the Croatian type (“Gajevitsa”), Arabic writing, Glagolitic and Bosanchitsa (a local variety of Cyrillic alphabet) were also used earlier. Believing Sunni Muslims.

Bosnians - the name of the population of the historical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule, mainly Serbs and Croats. The territory of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina was inhabited by Slavic tribes in the 6th-7th centuries. Ottoman domination in Bosnia and Herzegovina lasted from the second half of the 15th century until 1878. During the period of Ottoman rule in the Balkans, Islam became most widespread in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Various religious movements clashed here - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Bogomilism, a kind of Bosnian church that developed here, which created an atmosphere of religious tolerance and facilitated the spread of Islam, especially since conversion to Islam brought tax cuts and some legal rights. Many Turks, immigrants from the North Caucasus, Arabs, Kurds and representatives of other peoples who profess Islam moved here. Some of them were assimilated by the local population, their culture influenced the culture of the Bosnians. Islamization covered not only the upper social stratum (landowners, officials, large merchants), but also part of the peasants and artisans. When the Ottoman Empire began to lose its possessions in Europe (from the end of the 17th century), the Muslim population of various South Slavic lands flooded into Bosnia, further complicating its ethnic composition. The occupation of this area by Austria-Hungary in 1878 caused a massive outflow of the Muslim population to Turkey.

The basis of the culture of the Bosnians is the ancient Slavic, but features brought by the Turks and other immigrants from Asia Minor were layered on it. Representatives of the wealthy strata of society sought to copy the lifestyle of the upper strata of Ottoman society. Elements of Eastern, predominantly Turkish, culture also penetrated into the life of the masses, although to a lesser extent. This influence is most strongly felt in the architecture of cities (mosques, handicraft quarters, large bazaars, protruding upper floors of houses, etc.), in the layout of dwellings (dividing the house into male and female halves), their decoration, and in food - an abundance of fatty dishes and sweets, in clothes - bloomers, fezzes, in family and especially in religious life, in personal names. It is characteristic that it is in these areas of life that most of all borrowings from Turkish and other oriental languages.

Slovenians

Slovenians- South Slavic people. The total number is about 2 million people. The language is Slovenian. Most believers are Catholics, but there are also Protestants, Orthodox and Muslims. Many are atheists.

The ancestors of modern Slovenes in the VI-VII centuries. occupied vast areas in the basin of the Middle Danube, the Pannonian lowland, the Eastern Alps (Carantania), Primorye (the territory adjacent to the Adriatic Sea). In the middle of the VIII century. The Slovenes of Carantania fell under the rule of the Bavarians, and at the end of the 8th century, like the Slovenes of lower Pannonia, they became part of Frankish state. Most of the Slovenian lands were ruled by German feudal lords for almost a thousand years; German and Hungarian colonists settled these lands. Eastern Slovenian lands were occupied by Hungarian magnates; part of the Pannonian Slovenes was Magyarized. From the last third of the XIII century. a significant part of the Slovenian lands was subordinated to the Austrian Habsburgs. In 1918, the bulk of the Slovenes, along with other Yugoslav peoples, entered single state(since 1929 it has been called Yugoslavia), however, about 500 thousand Slovenes of the Julian Krajina fell under the rule of Italy, and about 100 thousand Slovenes of Carinthia and Styria - under the rule of Austria. After World War II (1939-45), most of the Julian Krajina, settled by Slovenes, became part of Yugoslavia. The historical past of the Slovenes, who for many centuries did not have state unity, their geographical disunity contributed to the formation of a number of ethnographic groups.

The Slovenes of Slovenian Littoral, Istria and Venetian Slovenia have been influenced by Italians, most of them bilingual; the Slovenes of Carinthia came under significant Austrian influence. After the establishment of a people's democratic system in Yugoslavia (1945), the Slovenes were given the opportunity to develop a socialist economy and national culture on an equal footing with other peoples of Yugoslavia.

Slovenia publishes 3 daily newspapers and over 20 weekly newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. Slovenian publishing houses publish about 1,200 books and pamphlets a year. The central print organ is the daily newspaper Delo (founded in 1959), published in Ljubljana, an organ of the Socialist Union of the Working People of Slovenia, with a circulation of 94,700 copies.

In addition to national radio and television, there are 12 local radio stations. Broadcasting in Ljubljana since 1928, television since 1958.

At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. in Slovenian literature, such trends as naturalism (F. Govekar, 1871-1949, A. Kreiger, 1877-1959, etc.) and Slovenian modernism (I. Cankar, 1876-1918, O. Zupancic, 1878-1949, D. Kette, 1876-99, I. Murn-Alexandrov, 1879-1901, etc.), in which realism is intertwined with elements of impressionistic and symbolist poetics. The foundations of proletarian literature were laid by Tsankar (For the Benefit of the People, 1901; King of the Betainovs, 1902; On the Street of the Poor, 1902; Laborer Yerney and His Law, 1907). The greatest achievement of Slovenian poetry in the early 20th century. - Župančić's lyrics ("Across the Plain", 1904; "Monologues", 1908, etc.). A significant phenomenon in Slovenian prose was the work of F. Finzhgar (1871-1962; Under the Free Sun, 1906-07, etc.).

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  Montenegrins- the people, the main population of Montenegro.

The lands, which later became known as Montenegro, separated from the Serbian kingdom as a separate territory under the rule of their own princes in the second half of the 14th century. This region, reduced to mountainous areas as a result of the capture of the coast by Venice, and the flat part by the Ottomans, lagged far behind in its socio-economic development from the surrounding lands. A special territorial-administrative structure has developed here, consisting of military-political associations - tribes. At the same time, a general assembly of their representatives was also convened. Formally, Montenegro was part of the Ottoman state, but the Montenegrins successfully resisted the spread of the actual power of the Porte to their lands. From the seventeenth century The local metropolitans, whose residence was in the Cetinje Monastery, became the political and spiritual leaders of the Montenegrins.

In the XVIII century. the Venetian Republic and Russian empire. In particular, this influence affected the political development of Montenegro. Montenegro has long had close ties with Venice, but the best times of the Republic of St. Mark was already left behind, but the presence of Russia in the Balkans gradually increased.

The consequence of Venice's participation in the war of the Holy League was the recognition by the Montenegrin "gathering" and Metropolitan Vissarion of the supreme authority of the Republic of St. Brand. This act took place in 1688, and is estimated by historiography as an important stage in the history of the conquest of an autonomous position by the Montenegrins.

Metropolitan Danilo Negosh (1697-1735), the founder of the later famous Petrovich Negosh dynasty, pursued a policy of strengthening the unity of Montenegro and eliminating tribal enmity. He established an all-Montenegrin judicial body - "Court of Bishop Danila". During his reign, contacts between Montenegro and Russia began.

In 1711, Russian emissaries (Serb Mikhail Miloradovich and others) arrived in the country with royal letters and money, urging them to take part in the struggle against the common enemy - the Ottoman Empire. Encouraged by this, the Montenegrins launched an attack on the Turkish fortresses. In response, a punitive expedition followed, destroying the Tsetinsky Monastery, the residence of the rebellious Metropolitan Danila.

In 1715, Vladyka fled to Russia, where he received a monetary subsidy to compensate for the damage caused by the Turkish invasion. Since then, Russia has repeatedly provided material assistance and political support to Montenegro.

Venice also tried to hold its positions here. On the advice of the Venetians in Montenegro, from the first quarter of the 18th century. began to be elected secular ruler - guvernadur. When Montenegro lost access to the Adriatic Sea, it became largely dependent on the Venetian Republic, which received a number of Montenegrin maritime communities in the Pozharevatsky peace.

Bishop Vasily (1750-1766) put a lot of effort into organizing centralized government in Montenegro. He considered Russia his main ally. For the Russian reader, he wrote "The Story of Black Mountain", where Montenegro appears as a powerful independent state capable of resisting the Turks. Vasily died during his next visit to Russia.

An unexpected successor to Vasily's policy was the impostor Stepan Maly (1767-1773), who pretended to be a survivor Russian emperor Peter III, whom the Montenegrins, supporters of Vasily, gladly received. The Russian authorities tried to arrest him, but then they became convinced that he was not dangerous for Russia, but, on the contrary, useful in the fight against the Turks. Stepan Maly was killed by an assassin sent by the Porte. After his death, Russia's relations with Montenegro were upset, and the latter turned to the Habsburg monarchy for support.

Montenegro- a small Slavic country, once part of Serbia. In Western Europe, she has another name - Montenegro, which she received from Mount Lovcen, covered with such a dense forest that it seemed black from a distance. And in the days of the Roman Empire, it was called Dukla.

For many centuries, Montenegro has repeatedly had to lose, and then defend its independence. Byzantium recognized it as the first independent state in the Balkans. Then it was captured by the Turks, but as a result of a series liberation wars regained freedom. After the Second World War, as a republic, it became part of Yugoslavia. And only on June 15, 2006, Montenegro became an independent state. Today it is the youngest state in Europe.

Montenegro located in the southwest of the Balkan Peninsula. Most of its territory is covered with protected forests and meadows. And only a small part of the coast of Montenegro, which is a narrow strip of land, is occupied by rocks and mountains covered with forests. The Adriatic Sea, washing Montenegro, is considered one of the cleanest in Europe. The most important attraction is the Highlands, located in the north of the country. The high mountains are rich in their most beautiful lakes and rivers, which have carved canyons of amazing beauty in the rocks. The central part of the country is occupied by plains and lowlands. The landscape and mild climate of this part of the country is the most suitable for living. The capital of the state, Podgorica, is also located here.

Between Montenegro and Russia there have always been friendly relations, the mentality of the two peoples is very similar in their worldview, which is why holidays in this hospitable country are becoming more and more popular on the Russian market.
Since 1992, Montenegro has been recognized as an ecologically clean reserve in Europe.
Holidays in Montenegro will satisfy anyone, even the most demanding tourist. Tall mountains covered with never melting snow - this is what you need for lovers of winter holidays. For beginners in skiing, there are schools for skiing and snowboarding. How wonderful to meet New Year in winter Montenegro. The traditions of Montenegrins are in many ways similar to ours. The same festive festivities with songs and dances, and then gatherings at a richly laid table in cozy house with a fireplace.

For those who lack adrenaline and thrills, water sports are offered. So fans of diving have a place to roam. After all, many sunken ships lie off the coast of Montenegro. And the diving centers that exist here will help you learn this extreme sport. There are other popular types of extreme recreation: rafting - for those who like to raft down fast rivers full of dangerous rapids, windsurfing - for conquerors of sea waves, as well as mountaineering and hunting tourism.