Travel Guide Podgorica (Подгорица)

Designated capital of the country in 1946, replacing Cetinje, Podgorica is the administrative and economic center of the country. Located at the confluence of two rivers, the city extends, as its name indicates, "at the bottom of the mountains" and in a vast valley that turns into a real furnace as early as the summer. Practically struck off the map during World War II, Podgorica today offers the face of a predominantly modern city with its broad straight avenues, blocks of concrete housing typical of post-war years, bridges, restaurants, hotels and a few commercial galleries.Still very small in the interwar period, where the city had only twenty thousand inhabitants, it experienced significant economic development from the 1950 s and continues to grow rapidly. Its former state hotels have been privatized and transformed into high-end establishments. Shopping and business centers are being built everywhere, giving the city a slightly more western face every day.Although suffocating in summer and a bit cold at first glance, it is still a city with a human size, even an attractive one, and where it is pleasant to walk the evening in the few pedestrian streets bordered by many crowded cafés.