Description of the attraction
Ulcinj is the southernmost city in Montenegro and is the center of the municipality of the same name. According to legend, it was in the Ultsin fortress that the famous prisoner, Miguel de Cervantes, was kept by pirates. For a long time, the city remained a pirate city, even during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
There are many attractions in the city, but the Church of St. Nicholas is a special building.
The first mention of the Church of St. Nicholas in Ulcinj dates back to the end of the 19th century. However, the history of the appearance of the church began even earlier - before, on the site of the building of the temple, there was a monastery dating back to the 15th century.
According to historical data, shortly before the moment when Ulcinj was liberated from the Turks (who were forced to surrender their territories, since they were defeated in the Russian-Turkish war), back in 1869, the Orthodox believers of Ulcinj built their own church near White Mountain.
Turkish law stated that not a single building erected in the city could exceed the height of the minaret of the mosque. The builders of the Church of St. Nicholas acted very ingeniously: they built a spacious church, dug into the depths of the earth. Thus, the law was not violated.
Later, the church was converted into a mosque, but in 1890 it again became the Orthodox church of St. Nicholas. Today the exposition of the Ultsin Archaeological Museum is located in the building of the church.
