BERAN KRŠ - BERANE
The site is located in Beranselo, approximately 2,5 km northwest from Berane. Archaeological researches on this site were conducted in 1961 and 1975. A house of a Neolithic type had been discovered (with the hearthstone), as well as parts of tools and furnishings, all dated in the middle of the 4th millennium BC (3600s BC). An altar of a baked clay was also discovered- an evidence of the Neolithic idolatry.
CHURCH SVETI NIKOLA (ST. NICHOLAS)
Expert team of the Museum of Polimlje conducted the research of the floor of Church Sveti Nikola in Nikoljac, a suburb of Bijelo Polje, at the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010. The founder’s tomb and silver coins inside the tomb, from the time of rule of the dinasties Lazarevic and Brankovic, were discovered on that occasion, which served as the evidence that this church was older than it had been considered, and it is now believed that it was built in the 16th century.
GRADAC IN BUDIMLJA - BERANE
Gradac is a hill with a peak at an altitude of almost 1,000 meters above the sea level, in the village of Budimlja, approximately 3 km northeast of Berane, near the local road Berane-Polica.
In the beginning, the locals brought to the museum the materials they accidentaly discovered at the slopes of Gradac. The fort at the top of the hill was discovered during the archaeological researches conducted in 2007, along with the series of objects inside and outside of the walls. The fort is of a circular shape, with two parallel walls, 1,8 m thick each, and it covers an area of 0,5 hectares.
Discovered objects show the continuity of life on this hill, from the Copper Age until the time of the Ottoman rule over Serbian countries.
GRADAC IN CRNČA - BIJELO POLJE
Gradac Hill, which dominates above the villages of Crnča, Ivanje and Radulići, in the municipality of Bijelo Polje, is located approximately 15 km northeast of Berane.
Expert team of the Museum of Polimlje conducted archaeological research at this site in 2008, and discovered that a fortification of an elliptical shape at the top of the hill existed in the late antique period, covering the area of 1 hectare.
HAJDAR PASHA MOSQUE - BIJELO POLJE
Remains of Hajdar Pasha Mosque are located in the village of Radulići, in the municipality of Bijelo Polje, approximately 20 km north of Berane. Museum of Polimlje conducted the protective archaeological researches of the remains of the mosque, in order to form the necessary documentation for the protection of Cultural Monuments. Architectural features suggested that the mosque was built in the 18th century.
KREMENŠTICA IN PETNJIK - BERANE
This site is located in the village of Petnjik, approximately 2,5 km northeast from the center of Berane. There was a pile dwelling settlement which was partially researched in 1975, and the discovered material was classified to belong to the Early Neolithic Era.
LISIJEVO POLJE - BERANE
The site is located 2 km east of Berane, south of the suburb Donje Luge. Archaeological researches on this site were conducted in 1990 and the discovered material was dated to the Eneolithic era- the Copper and Bronze Age (2,500 – 1,200 BC).
LUŽAC - BERANE
The site is located about 2 km west of Berane, in the village of the same name. When archaeological researches were conducted during the 1960s, it was concluded that a Roman fortress (castrum), with a series of ancillary facilities, existed on this site.
CRNČA MONASTERY COMPLEX - BIJELO POLJE
In Crnča, in the part of the village called Gornja Crnča, below the Gradac Hill, the remains of the Church Sveti Jovan (St. John) were discovered during archaeological researches in 2007. The church was mentioned for the first time in the 13th century, and was plundered and destroyed by the Turks during the conquest of the area in 1455. It was restored in the 16th century and, judging by the discovered parts of the frescoes, it was fresco-painted at the time as well, before it was razed to the ground later again.
SOKOLAC MONASTERY COMPLEX - BIJELO POLJE
Sokolac is a village above Tomaševo, in the municipality of Bijelo Polje. Monastery complex is located at 1,200 meters above the sea level, and it was mentioned in the 16th century. Museum of Polimlje conducted archaeological researches of the remains of the church on this site in 2007.
Researches of konak and ancillary buildings had not been conducted.
ĆELIJE MONASTERY COMPLEX IN KALUDRA - BERANE
The remains of the monastery complex Ćelije are located approximately 10 km southeast of Berane, in the village of Kaludra, near the local road Berane-Kaludra.
The team of the Museum of Polimlje conducted archaeological researches on this site in 1991 and discovered the remains of the church Sveti Luka (St. Luke) and monastery konak. Based on the found remains, it was concluded that the church was fresco-painted, but the exact time of construction and destruction of the church and the monastery complex has not been established so far.
DJURDJEVI STUPOVI MONASTERY COMPLEX - BERANE
Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery – Church Sveti Georgije (Saint George) was founded by the prefect Prvoslav, the son of the great prefect Tihomir, the oldest brother of Stefan Nemanja. The church was built in 1213 and it was the seat of the Budimlja episcopacy, established by Sveti (Saint) Sava, the fourth established church after the Serbian Church obtained autocephaly in 1219. The names of eight bishops and nine metropolitans of Budimlja are known. This episcopacy became Metropolitanate in 15th century, but after the brutal murder of metropolitan Pajsije (Kolašinović), who was skinned alive in 1654, the Ottomans banned the election of the new metropolitan, so the archbishop’s throne remained vacant for the next three and a half centuries.
Episcopacy, today known as The Eparchy of Budimlja-Nikšić, was restored at the beginning of this century and covered the territory of twelve municipalities in Montenegro (52% of the territory of Montenegro), where 150,000 of Orthodox inhabitants live. On the festivity of Mary Magdalene (4 August) in 2002, His Grace Joanikije (Mićović), Bishop of Budimlja-Nikšić, was enthroned in the Bishop’s throne in the Djurdjevi Stupovi Monastery, which was vacant for 348 years.
During the past couple of decades, several protective archaeological researches were conducted by the Museum of Polimlje on this monastery complex, and carried out conservation work on the building of the church, when a number of exhibits was brought and temporarily placed in the Museum for processing and better treatment.
ŠUDIKOVA MONASTERY COMPLEX - BERANE
This monastery complex is located approximately 2 km northeast of Berane, at the beginning of Tifran gorge, in the village of Budimlja. It has not been determined yet when this monastery complex, along with the church Vavedenje Presvete Bogorodice, was built, but it was known that it had been a very important cultural center for a long time: copying, painting and monastic schools existed here. ʻʻSvetotrojički zbornikʼʼ was written here, and kept in the Sveta Trojica Monastery in Pljevlja (the reason why it is called like that); bishop Teofil wrote ʻʻPogovorʼʼ and ʻʻMoračka krmčijaʼʼ here; Metropolitan Gerasim wrote ʻʻMinejʼʼ in 1574, which is kept in the National Library in Belgrade; monk Danilo wrote ʻʻPsaltirʼʼ in 1592, now located in Vienna; Deacon Mihailo wrote ʻʻMolebnik’’ in 1602, kept in the library of Count Uvarov in Moscow, as well as ʻʻBoženstveni apostol manastira Šudikove”. “Šudikovski pomenik” is also very important. An art school also existed here and its most prominent representative was the priest Strahinja Budimljanin, a famous painter at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century.
The Turks destroyed the entire monastery complex in 1738 and it was not restored until the beginning of the 21st century, when the new church with a konak (dormitory) was built on the foundations of the old church, under the patronage of Mr. Milo Djurašković.
At the beginning of the 20th century new researches were initiated on this site, but were banned because of inexpertness, and therefore could not be considered to be archaeological. At the beginning of this century, Museum of Polimlje conducted systematic archaeological researches of the monastery complex in 2002, when the remains of the church Vavedenje Presvete Bogorodice and the konak complex were discovered. Besides the material, a tombstone was discovered in the floor of the church, and it was dated to the 16th century.
MINA’S CAVE IN KALUDRA - BERANE
This rock shelter is located about 4 km east of Berane, in the canyon of the Kaludra River, near the local road Berane – Kaludra (village). It was devastated in the past by the local gold seekers, and the fragments of pottery and bone tools were discovered during the archaeological excavations conducted in 1992-93 and were dated to the Copper Age.
NAMASTIR IN KOŠUTIĆI - ANDRIJEVICA
The site is located approximately 20 km southwest of Berane, near the local road Andrijevica – Konjuhe, in the village of Košutići, in the municipality of Andrijevica.
The systematic archaeological researches of the monastery complex, known as Namastir, were conducted during 2005 and 2008. Remains of a small church, with the size of 9,20 x 5,40 m, were discovered, and the material indicated that it was a church from the pre-Nemanjic era, the 10th or 11th century.
THE REMAINS OF THE CHURCH SVETA JANJA IN LUBNICE - BERANE
In the village of Lubnice, 8 km west of Berane, several systematic archaeological researches were conducted in the village cemetary in 1999, during which the remains of the church of Sveta (Saint) Janja were discovered.
Based on the remains of the foundation, it is believed that the church was built in the late 15th or early 16th century, and that it was fresco-painted.
CHURCH REMAINS IN BUDIMLJA - BERANE
At the village cemetary in Budimlja, about 3 km northeast of Berane, an expert team of the Polimlje Museum conducted archaeological researches of the remains of the church with a rectangular apse in 1994, which indicated that it originated from the 12th-13th century. Remains of the walls have been preserved and the discovered material placed in the Museum.
RADMANCI GORGE - PETNJICA
The site is located in the canyon of Radmanci River, about 25 km northeast from Berane, in the village of Radmanci, now the municipality of Petnjica. It is a rock shelter, 15 meters deep, where the material from the Copper Age was discovered.
On the entrance side, this rock shelter is protected by a wall 6 meters tall, built in ancient times. Remains of a Roman aqueduct along the Radmanci River, show that this site belongs to the ancient period. Archaeological researches on the site were conducted in 1990.
RUDEŠ- BERANE
The site is located northeast of Berane, 1,5 km from the town, in the village of Budimlja. The site was largely devastated during the construction of, now former, Pulp and Paper Factory, at the beginning of the 1960s. Material which testifies the existence of life in this area at the transition from the Copper to the Iron Age, was preserved in the damaged necropolis.
Material from this site was discovered by the inhabitants of Budimlja and given to the Museum, while a part of it was bought off.
TORINE - PETNJICA
The site is located near the Radmanci Gorge, on the exit of the Radmanci River canyon. It is a plateau where the seasonal settlement existed. Systematic archaeological researches on this site were conducted in several campaigns in 2007 – 2009, and very rich material from the Copper Age was discovered.
TREBAČKI KRŠ - BERANE
The site is located 5 km south of Berane, in the village of Trepča, near the main road Berane-Andrijevica-Plav. It is the rock shelter where archeological researches were conducted in the 1990s, and the remains of stone tools and stone microliths from the Mesolithic era – Middle Stone Age, were found.
TUMBARICE - BERANE
The site is located in the village of Donja Rzanica, approximately 5 km east of Berane. Archaeological researches were conducted in 2008, and the remains of objects and fortresses with two sets of walls, which cover an area of 1,5 hectares, were discovered. Based on the discovered archaeological material, it can be concluded that humans continually lived on this locality from the Copper and Bronze Age, through the Roman period, until the Middle Ages.
