{"id":3519,"date":"2026-03-26T12:06:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/?p=3519"},"modified":"2026-07-05T16:18:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T16:18:25","slug":"whats-worth-seeing-in-the-foothills-of-budva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/en\/2026\/03\/26\/whats-worth-seeing-in-the-foothills-of-budva\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Worth Seeing in the Foothills of Budva"},"content":{"rendered":"

During one of my summer vacations in the Montenegrin resort town of Budva, I planned a hiking trip of about 13 kilometers through the foothills of Budva. I wanted to set out from the parking lot on the outskirts of Budva near the Podostrog Orthodox Monastery, pass through the villages of Markovi\u0107i and Ze\u010devo selo, descend to the Krapina settlement, and then walk back past the horse ranches to the Podostrog Monastery. But man proposes, and God disposes \u263a \u2026 In the end, my plans changed, but I\u2019ll tell you all about it below.<\/p>\n

*Podostrog Monastery*<\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning I parked my car in the parking lot next to the Podostrog Monastery. I was looking forward to exploring it, since this Orthodox monastery has an interesting history. First of all, I was intrigued by the fact that it has two names\u2014Manastir Podostrog and Manastir Maine. While the name Podostrog is derived from a nearby mountain called Ostrog, the name \u201cMaine\u201d has a completely different meaning.<\/p>\n

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The term \u201cMaine\u201d referred to the territory located along the Grdevica River, between present-day Budva and the village of Pobori. This territory was inhabited by the Mahine, a small Albanian ethnic group. As late as 1838, the three small settlements of Maine, Pobori, and Braji\u0107i above Budva had a population of 1,705, all of whom were Orthodox Christians. It was in the settlement of Maine that the Maine (or Podmaine) Monastery was founded.<\/p>\n

The monastery is located on a hill overlooking the Budva Plain, about 2 km north of Budva\u2019s Old Town. It was once surrounded by streams and terraced meadows, and its rooms offered views of the Old Town and the sea. Today, multi-story residential buildings stand in its immediate vicinity, so the monastery complex has partially lost its idyllic charm. But there is still plenty to see.<\/p>\n

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Historical sources are silent on the monastery\u2019s founding. The earliest records of it date back to 1630. Based on its architectural features, its foundations can be dated to the 15th century. According to historical sources, the Montenegrin metropolitans held this monastery in high regard. In the second half of the 15th century, the monastery was threatened several times by Venetian troops. It was here that meetings were held where the leaders of neighboring territories agreed to fight against Venice. In 1838, King Njego\u0161 was forced to sell the monastery complex to Austria, and an Austrian military garrison was stationed there. In 1849, Filip Tanovi\u0107, a native of Main, purchased the monastery from the Austrians.<\/p>\n

In 1869, the so-called Bokelj Uprising broke out. The inhabitants of the villages along the Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska) were known as the Bokeljci. The uprising was triggered by the fact that in 1869, Austria-Hungary introduced a new law that revoked the previous exemption of the inhabitants of Boka Kotorska from military service and taxes. The local residents refused to obey the Austrian emperor. Paradoxically, during the fighting, Austria-Hungary was defeated, and the rebels achieved their goals. However, the Podstrog Monastery was destroyed and remained inactive for many years. In the second half of the 20th century, the state nationalized it and returned it to the Church, which attempted to restore it.<\/p>\n

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In 1979, however, the Podostrog Monastery suffered significant damage as a result of a devastating earthquake. It was not until the 1980s that the monastery was completely reconstructed and restored as a spiritual center.<\/p>\n

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*Markovi\u0107 Village*<\/strong><\/p>\n

From the monastery, I headed north and, following the course of the Grdevica River, walked 2.3 km uphill to the village of Markovi\u0107i. It is a tiny village with about 100 permanent residents. It is nestled among picturesque hills and offers beautiful views of the countryside as well as the Adriatic Sea.<\/p>\n

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According to the map, there\u2019s supposed to be a waterfall on the Grdevica River just above the village, which I had planned to visit. But when I saw where I\u2019d have to go, I decided against it.<\/p>\n

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*Turn around*<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the end of the village, I turned right into the hills, exactly as the map indicated. After about 200 meters, the more or less \u201ccivilized\u201d road ended, and the map \u201cinstructed\u201d \ud83d\ude42 me to turn left onto a dirt road. But what I turned onto was anything but a road or even a trail. The whole area was overgrown with tall vegetation, which took me quite by surprise. Despite that, I persevered, pushing my way through the undergrowth along an imaginary winding path for about 250 meters. My determination, however, came to an end when a snake darted out at me from one of the bends\u2014I didn\u2019t even have time to identify it, as it was moving so fast. At first, it looked like it was attacking me, but after I jumped back, it disappeared. And I was faced with the choice of whether to turn back or continue through this thicket for another 500 meters. I decided on the first option.<\/p>\n

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*A Visit to Krapine*<\/strong><\/p>\n

But when I walked back down to the parking lot, I wasn’t ready to end my outing in nature just yet. So I decided to drive about 5 kilometers to check out a place marked on the map as Krapina.<\/p>\n

You get there via a narrow paved road lined with pine trees, cypresses, and coastal macchia. What you\u2019ll see here is mainly associated with the Bo\u017eovi\u0107 family name; today, this name is represented by Gojko Bo\u017eovi\u0107\u2014the creator and owner of a magnificent complex that includes a fish farm, a restaurant, a mini-zoo, as well as a beautiful natural pool beneath a waterfall, an ethnic village, a vineyard, olive groves, fig and cherry orchards, historical paintings, photographs, hand-carved stone artifacts, and items from households of yesteryear.<\/p>\n

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The highlight of this area is the Drenvo\u0161tica River, which features a beautiful canyon and offers opportunities for canyoning. As for the cuisine, at the restaurant you can enjoy carp, eel, trout, homemade prosciutto, cheese, and homemade bread.<\/p>\n

And if you need to cool off, you can enjoy the refreshingly cool water at a small waterfall, which is accessible only to guests of Gojko Bo\u017eovi\u0107.<\/p>\n

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I left this place filled with impressions and admiration for the work of the Bo\u017eovi\u0107 family. During this trip, I was also intrigued by these messages on the pebbles, so I collected some pretty ones on the beach as well.<\/p>\n

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If you decide to follow in my footsteps and need advice on accommodations, food, hiking trails, or other ways to spend your time on the coast near Budva, feel free to contact me via email at ajka@uzisibalkaninak.com, my Facebook page \u201cEnjoy the Balkans differently<\/a>\u201d or\u00a0Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

P.S.: All photos are mine and are protected by copyright\u00a0\"\ud83d\ude42\"\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

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During one of my summer vacations in the Montenegrin resort town of Budva, I planned a hiking trip of about 13 kilometers through the foothills of Budva. I wanted to set out from the parking lot on the outskirts of Budva near the Podostrog Orthodox Monastery, pass through the villages of Markovi\u0107i and Ze\u010devo selo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[827,824],"tags":[1840,830,1781,1838,856,858,1836,1842,1844,1846,989,836,1848,1159,1013,1834,1779,1157,999],"class_list":["post-3519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montenegro","category-uncategorized","tag-attack","tag-balkans","tag-budva","tag-fish-farm","tag-hike","tag-hiking","tag-kotors-bay","tag-krapine","tag-maine","tag-markovici","tag-monastery","tag-montenegro","tag-podostrog","tag-restaurant","tag-ribnjak","tag-snake","tag-village","tag-walk","tag-waterfall"],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":3519,"ru":3528,"sk":1904,"hr":3523},"pll_sync_post":{},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3521,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions\/3521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uzisibalkaninak.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}