The story of Ostrog monastery

Look up at the cliff: the monastery sits against an almost vertical background, high in the great rock of Ostroška Greda near Danilovgrad. This is Ostrog, the single most visited pilgrimage site of the Serbian Orthodox Church, receiving 1 to 1.2 million people a year. It was founded in the early 17th century by Vasilije Jovanović, Metropolitan of Herzegovina, better known as St. Basil of Ostrog.

He died here in 1671, and his body rests in a reliquary in the cave-church of the Presentation of the Theotokos. A fire destroyed most of the complex, and its present look dates from 1923–1926, but the two little cave-churches were spared. In the upper Church of the Holy Cross, master Radul laid his frescoes directly onto the rock.

Look for the vine growing out of the sheer rock face; it is said to be a miracle. By tradition, pilgrims walk the 3 km from the lower monastery to the upper one barefoot, and Orthodox, Catholics and Muslims all come here.