Montenegro: A slice of Muslim history in a Mediterranean paradise
Photo: KOTOR, MONTENEGRO - 22 AUGUST 2015: Aerial view of Kotor. The old Mediterranean port of Kotor is surrounded by fortifications built during the Venetian period. It is located on the Bay of Kotor. / photosmatic / Shutterstock.com
Last Thursday, Montenegro celebrated its National Day, a celebration of the moment the tiny Eastern European country was first recognised as an independent state back in 1878. Before that, it had been part of the Muslim Ottoman empire for almost 400 years. Evidence of that rule is most evident in the capital city of Podgorica, which was conquered by the Turks in 1474.
“When I was a boy, this minaret was a dangerous, crumbling structure sticking out of an abandoned building,” explained Mirza, pointing up at the renovated, white, pencil-thin minaret of the Osmanagic Mosque, one of only two remaining ancient mosques in Podgorica’s Stara Varos, the original Ottoman town.
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Tharik Hussain