Mausoleum of Njegoš

The Mausoleum of Njegoš is a mausoleum interring Petar II Petrović-Njegoš located on the top of Jezerski Vrh Peak on Mount Lovćen. The mausoleum is located twenty-one kilometres via asphalt road from near-by Cetinje and it was built on the idea of Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović. It was built on the same location of the Njegoš Testament Church which Njegoš had built in 1845 with the intention of being buried there and which he dedicated to his predecessor Petar I Petrović-Njegoš (who is canonized as Saint Peter of Cetinje in the Serbian Orthodox Church). The church suffered damage from bombardment in both World Wars. In 1974, despite protest from the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral and local Orthodox Christians, the old church was ordered demolished by a commission of the League of Communists of Montenegro led by Veljko Milatović and today's mausoleum was built.