Podgorica legends and stories

Podgorica before the WWII bombings

Podgorica origins

Podgorica chronicler Ilija Zlatičanin wrote that Podgorica was established by Haji-Pasha. He allegedly let a rooster fly and after advice from Prince Markus, he started building the city at the spot where the rooster landed – legend says that this happened at the very confluence of the rivers Ribnica and Morača.

Saudi Princess from Podgorica

One of the legends from Podgorica tells about a girl which found herself on the throne of Saudi Arabia. The daughter of a certain Sadik-beg Begović who settled in Turkey from Podgorica, attracted the king of Saudi Arabia with her extraordinary beauty, and introduced herself as a Montenegrin when he visited the school she attended. Soon after, the Saudi King proposed to the girl.

Mirkova Varoš (Mirko’s Town)

By decree of Prince Nikola, Mirkova Varoš (Mirko’s town), also known as Nova Varos (New Town) was built in the second half of the 19th century in Ledine, a former Turkish camp. It was modeled upon Western architecture, so together with Stara Varos, it looked like a merger between East and West on this small geographical area. During the WWII bombings, Mirkova Varos was devastated, and it never regained its previous appearance. Right before the war started in the region, Nova Varos was the center of significant cultural institutions in the city – Financial Directorate (located within the building of today’s parliament of the Capital), Municipality of the Varos (Town) of Podgorica, situated in today’s Karadjordjev Park, a post office on the corner between the Njegos and Karadjordje Streets, a district court located in the former Podgorica Hotel, the Bank of Montenegro on the corner between the Njegoš and Vučedolska Streets, a hammam at the place of today’s library club Karver on the Ribnica river, an elementary school located in today’s building of the State Parliament and many other buildings which can today only be found in historical and architectural writings.