Montenegro History: A Short Timeline from Doclea to 2006

Montenegro is one of the youngest countries in Europe, yet it has become independent twice: in 1878, when the Congress of Berlin recognised it, and in 2006, when 55.5% voted to leave the union with Serbia against a required threshold of 55%. Before that lie nearly a thousand years of history: medieval principalities, more than three centuries of rule by prince-bishops, and a kingdom that lasted just eight years.

If the region is new to you: Montenegro is the small country on the Adriatic just south of Croatia, and Herceg Novi, its first town over the border, is about 50 kilometres from Dubrovnik. Almost every date below has a place attached to it, and most of those places are an hour or an hour and a half’s drive from the coast. So this is a timeline with directions.

In short

• The name Crna Gora — “Black Mountain” — appears in the 15th century under the Crnojević dynasty. Before that the land was Roman Doclea, then the principalities of Duklja and Zeta.
• 1482 — Cetinje is founded. It stays the capital for more than four centuries, until 1946.
• 1516–1852 — the country is ruled by prince-bishops; from 1696 the office is hereditary in the Petrović-Njegoš family.
• 13 July 1878 — the Congress of Berlin recognises independence. From 1910 Montenegro is a kingdom.
• 1918–2006 — part of Yugoslavia, then in a union with Serbia, until the referendum of 21 May 2006.
• Today — a NATO member since 2017 and a candidate for the EU, with 622,695 people at the 2023 census.

Where does Montenegro’s history begin?

With a Roman town. The ruins of Doclea lie three kilometres north of modern Podgorica. Under Emperor Claudius, in the middle of the 1st century, it was granted the rights of a municipium; after 297 it became the capital of the province of Praevalitana; and in 518 an earthquake destroyed it.

The town died but the name did not. Doclea gave its name to Duklja, a Slav principality that rose in revolt under Stefan Vojislav in 1042 and won its independence. In 1077 Pope Gregory VII recognised Mihailo of Duklja as king.

From the 13th century people increasingly spoke of Zeta rather than Duklja. Between 1186 and 1360 the land belonged to the Nemanjić dynasty; then, from the second half of the 14th century until 1421, the Balšić family ruled it. Several of the monasteries on the islands of Lake Skadar date from their time.

Where does the name Montenegro come from?

Crna Gora appears in the second half of the 15th century, under the Crnojević dynasty; “Montenegro” is the Venetian-Italian form of the same words. The Ottomans were closing in — they took Podgorica in 1474 — so Ivan Crnojević moved his court up into the mountains. In 1482 he founded Cetinje, and its monastery was completed in 1484. Only ruins of it remain, on Ćipur beside the Court Church; the present monastery was built in 1701–1704.

In 1493 the Crnojevićs set up a printing press, and on 4 January 1494 it finished the Octoechos of the First Tone, the first book printed in Cyrillic among the South Slavs. Tradition places the press at Obod, next to today’s Rijeka Crnojevića; historians have not been able to confirm the exact site. In 1496 Zeta fell to the Ottomans.

Was Montenegro part of the Ottoman Empire?

Part of it was, and for a long time. After Zeta fell, the territory of today’s Montenegro had several histories running side by side. Podgorica stayed Ottoman until 1879, and its clock tower, the Sahat Kula, dates from that period; Stari Bar and Ulcinj carry Ottoman heritage too. Kotor and Perast spent centuries under Venice, which explains their walls and palazzi, while Herceg Novi was shaped by both the Turks and the Venetians.

The mountains around Cetinje went their own way. From 1516 they were ruled by elected prince-bishops — Orthodox metropolitans who held both church and state authority. From 1696 the office became hereditary in the Petrović-Njegoš family from the village of Njeguši. It passed from uncle to nephew, since a bishop, as a monk, could have no children of his own.

The best known of them is Petar II Petrović Njegoš (1813–1851): ruler, metropolitan and poet, author of The Mountain Wreath, buried in a mausoleum on the summit of Lovćen. He has an article of his own: Njegoš and his mausoleum. In 1852 his successor Danilo gave up holy orders and took the title of prince, and power became secular.

How did Montenegro win independence in 1878?

On 13 July 1878 the Congress of Berlin, called by the great powers after the Russo-Turkish war, recognised Montenegro as independent, and the country roughly doubled in size. That is the origin of the main summer holiday, Statehood Day on 13 July. The same year Montenegrin forces took Stari Bar after a long siege.

The ruler at the time was Nikola I, prince from 1860 and king from 28 August 1910. His reign brought the first constitution (1905) and a currency of the country’s own, the perper (1906), and European powers opened embassies in Cetinje. He was known as the “father-in-law of Europe”: five of his six daughters married into royal houses, and Elena became Queen of Italy. He died in exile at Antibes, in France, on 1 March 1921. In 1989 his remains were brought back to Cetinje and reburied in the Court Church.

How did Montenegro end up in Yugoslavia?

After the First World War, on 26 November 1918, the Podgorica Assembly voted to depose Nikola I and unite with Serbia, and on 1 December the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed. Not everyone accepted it: in January 1919 the “Greens”, supporters of independence, launched what became known as the Christmas Uprising. The argument over 1918 has never quite ended. In 2018 Montenegro’s parliament declared the assembly’s decision unlawful.

On 13 July 1941, during the Second World War, an uprising began in Montenegro, which gives Statehood Day its second meaning. From 1945 to 1992 Montenegro was one of the republics of socialist Yugoslavia. In 1946 the capital moved to Podgorica, which was called Titograd until 2 April 1992. Cetinje kept the title of Old Royal Capital.

How did Montenegro become independent in 2006?

When Yugoslavia broke up, Montenegro stayed with Serbia: from 1992 in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and from 2003 in the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.

The independence referendum was held on 21 May 2006. The bar was set high: 55% of the vote. On a turnout of 86.49%, 55.5% voted yes — 230,711 people against 184,954. Parliament declared independence on 3 June 2006, and on 28 June the country became the 192nd member of the United Nations. Independence Day falls on 21 May, the date of the vote, and 2026 marked its twentieth anniversary.

What is Montenegro like today?

Montenegro has been a member of NATO since 5 June 2017, the alliance’s 29th. Its road to the EU is a long one: it applied in 2008, became a candidate in 2010 and has been negotiating since 2012. By summer 2026 it had closed 18 of the 33 negotiating chapters; the government intends to close the rest by the end of the year and join in 2028. It already pays in euros, even though it is not yet in the EU.

The 2023 census counted 622,695 people. Of these, 41.12% described themselves as Montenegrin, 32.93% as Serb, 9.45% as Bosniak, 4.97% as Albanian and 2.06% as Russian. By religion, 71.10% are Orthodox, 19.99% Muslim and 3.27% Catholic. Whether Montenegrins and Serbs are separate peoples is a question each person settles for themselves, and not one to argue about with the people you meet — more on that in Montenegro etiquette.

Where can you see Montenegro’s history?

Period	Where	What to look for	Entry
Rome and Duklja	Doclea, 3 km north of Podgorica	ruins of the Roman town	check the price on site
The Crnojevićs	Cetinje, Rijeka Crnojevića	Cetinje Monastery (built 1701–1704) and the ruins of the 1484 monastery on Ćipur	monastery free
Venice	Kotor, Perast, Herceg Novi	town walls, palazzi, Forte Mare	Kotor walls €15, Forte Mare €4
The Ottomans	Stari Bar, Ulcinj, Podgorica	ruins, mosques, the Sahat Kula	Stari Bar €5
The Petrović-Njegoš dynasty	Njeguši, Cetinje, Lovćen	Njegoš’s birthplace, Biljarda, the mausoleum	mausoleum €8
The kingdom	Cetinje	King Nikola’s palace, the former embassies	King Nikola Museum €8

Two things to know about Cetinje. The Historical Museum, in the former government building known as Government House, is currently closed to visitors; the art museum in the same building is open. The mausoleum and Njegoš’s birthplace open only from 15 April to 15 November. A combined ticket for all the Cetinje museums and the mausoleum costs €20. The rest of the old capital is covered in Cetinje in half a day.

For the Ottoman side of the story there are separate articles on Stari Bar and Podgorica. Obod and the Crnojevićs’ riverside seat are in Lake Skadar and the Crnojević river.

Can you see it all in a day?

Most of this article fits into a single loop: Kotor — the hairpin road — Njeguši — Lovćen — Cetinje. By car it makes a full day with stops: 22 kilometres of hairpins from Kotor up to Njeguši, then another 20 kilometres between Cetinje and the mausoleum. Back to the sea from Cetinje it is 28 kilometres to Budva. A compact car copes best with the mountain roads: car rental.

Without a car, there is the coach excursion Heart of Montenegro: Cetinje, Njeguši and the cable car above Kotor, from €73 per person from Budva, from €83 from Kotor and Tivat, and from €88 from Bar. The mausoleum is not part of it. One thing to know before booking: the company runs it only with Russian-speaking guides, so if Russian is no use to you, the car is the better way to follow this history. Other routes are listed under tours in Montenegro.

Prices and opening hours checked in September 2026. Sources: National Museum of Montenegro, Statistical Office of Montenegro (MONSTAT), European Parliament observers’ report on the 2006 referendum, NATO, Council of the European Union.