The most beautiful religious buildings Herceg Novi (Херцег Нови)

Located 2 km east of the town, on the slopes of a hill overlooking the sea, this monastery is a superb example of architectural blending. It was here that the poet prince Petar II Njegoš received his first education as a child. The monastery complex consists of two churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary, a cloister and a small chapel on the hillside dedicated to St. Sava Nemanja (the first archbishop of the Serbian Orthodox Church, appointed in 1219, who became its most venerated saint). The present monastery was apparently built on the site of an earlier 11th-century church and dates from the late 17th century (1690s), when monks fleeing the destruction of their monastery near Trebinje in Herzegovina came to bring their treasures here. Among these treasures, which are still in the possession of the monastery, are a chalice from 1650, a Gospel from 1685, a silver miniature from the monastery of Tvrdoš, where the monks came from, and a 13th-century crystal and silver cross said to have belonged to St Sava.

The monastery has a large library with manuscripts from the 14th century. It also has a vineyard providing the traditional wine tasted on the feast of St. Typhon on February 14, the patron saint of winegrowers. The monastery also has a merlot, cabernet, chardonnay and rosé, and two types of brandy, including travarica with medicinal properties.

Dedicated to St Jerome, the patron saint of the town, this church was built in the mid-19th century on the site of a 17th-century Catholic church. The latter was destroyed to make way for a new church. The interior of the church building is decorated with paintings by Tripo Kokolja (1661-1713). This Montenegrin artist from the town of Perast is considered one of the greatest Baroque painters of his time.