Potarje, Montenegro

Potarje (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Потарје) is a region in northern Montenegro. It includes the Tara River valleys and the Tara River Canyon.

Geography

• Mojkovac municipality
• Crna Poda forest

History

Middle Ages

Several settlements in the region were mentioned in the Ston charter (1253) of Stefan Uroš I, the King of Serbia, and in the later Lim charter.^[1] One of these was Brskovo, an important town in medieval Serbia.

Modern

In the time of the Cretan War (1645–69), Potarje and the neighbouring territories were in revolt against the Ottoman Empire.^[2]

The Dobrilovina Monastery became the "centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje",^[3] after 1866, when archimandrite Mihailo Dožić-Medenica (1848-1914) was sent as an administrator.^[4][5] Dožić also having established a school that was operated secretly in the monastery, the first school in the valley of Tara — this was a very significant step towards national awakening in this region and surrounding regions.^[6] Dožić organized an insurgent battalion in the region,^[7] active between 1875 and 1878 (during the Herzegovina Uprising (1875–78) and Montenegrin–Ottoman War (1876–78)).

In the Principality of Montenegro, Šaranci was part of the Nikšić nahija.

Monuments

• Dobrilovina Monastery, built in the Raška architectural school,^[8] is located on the left Tara river banks, at the beginning of the Tara River Canyon.^[4]

References

1. Milovan Jevrić (1984). Stanovništvo opštine Mojkovac (in Serbian). Srpsko geografsko društvo. p. 17.
2. Nedeljković, Dušan (1929). O psihičkom tipu Južnosrbijanaca. p. 21. Посебно тешке прилике на данашњој територији општиие Мојковац биле су за вријеме кандијског рата (1645 - 1669.) те је Потарје у овом рату, заједно са оусједним просторима, било захваћено општим уста- ничким врењем.
3. Savet akademija nauka SFRJ (1989). Bulletin scientifique (in Serbo-Croatian) 25. Le Conseil. p. 9. of the Tara river, near the town of Mojkovac, the monastery of Dobrilovina was the centre of the spiritual and political life and aspirations for freedom in the wide area of Potarje. Studying the long history of the Monastery the author points out the work of arhimandrit Mihailo Dozid who, after the Turkish raid in 1833, renovated the monastery in 1866. Particularly important is Dozid's role in the uprising in this region that lasted from 1875 until 1878.
4. Kalezić, Dimitrije M. (2002). A - Z (in Serbian). p. 557.
5. Istorijski institut SR Crne Gore u Titogradu, Istorijsko društvo SR Crne Gore (2007). Istorijski zapisi, Volume 80, Issues 1-4.
6. Geografsko Društvo (1979). Glasnik, Volumes 59-61 (in Serbian). Belgrade: Geografsko Društvo. p. 41.
7. Tomašević, Nebojša (1982). Treasures of Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedic Touring Guide. p. 503. In the 19th century, an insurgent battalion was formed in the area, led by Mihailo Dozic, abbot of Dobrilovina monastery. After the First Balkan War, the region was freed and joined to the Kingdom of Montenegro. During World War I it was the scene of the famous battle of Mojkovac (1916), when the Montenegrin army inflicted a heavy defeat on the numerically ...
8. Дероко, Александар (1953). Монументална и декоративна ахитектура у средњевековноj Србиjи (in Serbian). p. 300. Добриловина на Тари, једнобродна грађевина рашкога типа, са кубетом, саграђена 1593 год. (сл. 456)