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Lovcen mountain is not only something one should admire. Lovcen is also a Montenegrin historical beacon. What Olympus used to be for old Greeks, that is Lovcen for Montenegrins. Historical and cultural reasons were crucial to proclaim Lovcen a national park.

Slopes of Mt Lovcen rise in the southwest of Montenegro, as a hinterland of the ancient coastal town Kotor and as a strong shield over Boka bays. The national park "Lovcen" covers the central and the biggest part of the Lovcen range with an area of 6.220 hectares. Numerous and heterogeneous relief forms are specially characteristic for the middle part of the mountain with its highest peaks Stirovnik and Jezerski vrh. Its slopes are rocky with many crevices, pits and deep depressions. Placed on the border between two completely different natural landscapes, the sea and mainland, Lovcen influenced by both climates. Lovcen’s serpentines present a unique architectural relic. The old road toward Kotor winds uphill to Njegusi, a picturesque mountainous village, where the houses of Petar II Petrovic Njegus and King Nikola are placed.

At its top, there is the mausoleum of the biggest Montenegrin ruler and poet, Petar II Petrovic Njegos.

Njegos’ last wish was to be buried in a little church on the peak called Jezerski vrh (Lake Crest) on the Lovcen mountain. His will was not immediately executed because of the real danger that someone might desecrate the grave. In 1885, prince Danilo executed Njegos' wish and together with the most eminent Montenegrins, he moved the remains to the top.

Since this church was very significant for Montenegrins in their struggle for freedom, it was always attacked by Turks and Austrians. In 1916, it was completely destroyed by Austrians. At that time Njegos’s body was exhumed, and his remains were given to metropolitan in Cetinje. In 1925, a new church was built where Petar II Petrovic Njegos was buried for the second time. Then, the idea to build a monumental mausoleum occurred. According to the wish of the King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic prepared the project. In 1951, at the 100^th anniversary of the Njegos’s death, its realization started. Huge granite figures and blocks were lifted to an altitude of 1654m and the Mausoleum was opened in 1974.

The Montenegrins have a religious relationship or feeling toward this mountain and for the one who was buried at its top.

"I want to tell you something about Lovcen, about a beautiful Montenegrin hill. The first thing that emerges in front of you, that is it; the first spoken Montenegrin word is its name; the first step on the Montenegrin soil is the stone of the Lovcen mountain. Wherever you go, you can see it; it is a polar star for Montenegrins."

Literate Ljubomir Nenadovic

"The whole Montenegro was lying in front of us like on a relief map. The sun was playing quietly with waves of Boka, the surface of the Skadar lake was glittering there, and the blue Adriatic was fading on the horizon. In the wild luxury, the Albanian Alps and the coastal mountain Rumija were rising. The eyes were roaming through enduring series of mountain chains and valleys, while in the background, the snowy crests of the Durmitor and Komovi mountains were sending their last regards. Podgorica was ascending from the green valley. I could not take my eyes off that beautiful sight."

German geographer Kurt Hasert