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The culture of present-day Montenegro is as fascinating as its history and geographical position suggests. Its values, norms, institutions and artifacts are a result of variety of external influences superimposed on the existing native Illyrian, Celtic, South Slavic and Albanian cultures and their struggle to cope and make sense of the world around them. The ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Christianity, Islam, Byzantine Empire, Serbian Empire,Ottoman Empire, Republic of Venice, Austria-Hungary and Yugoslavia all made their impact.

Contents 1 Values and Norms 1.1 Ethical Beliefs 1.2 Folkways 1.2.1 Montenegrin Wedding 1.2.2 Montenegrin Funeral 1.3 Mores 1.4 Laws 2 Traditions 2.1 Folk Dances 2.1.1 Oro 2.2 Epic Songs 2.3 Montenegrin Names 2.4 Cuisine 3 Architecture 4 Literature 5 Painting and Sculpture 5.1 Painting 5.2 Sculpture 6 Music 7 Performing Arts 7.1 Theatre 7.2 Film 8 Montenegro as a Theme in Foreign Works 8.1 Films with Montenegrin themes 9 Institutions 10 See also 11 External links

Very important dimension of the ethnic Montenegrin culture is the ethical ideal of Čojstvo i Junaštvo, roughly translated as "Humanity and Bravery". Another result of its centuries long warrior history, it is the unwritten code of Chivalry that Marko Miljanov, one of the most respected Montenegrins of his time, tried to describe in his book Primjeri Čojstva i Junaštva (Examples of Humanity and Bravery) at the end of 19th century. Its main principles stipulate that to deserve a true respect of its people, a person has to show virtues of integrity, dignity, humility, self-sacrifice for the just cause, respect for others, and Rectitude along with the bravery. In the old days of battle, it resulted in Montenegrins fighting to the death as being captured was considered the greatest shame.

It is still very much ingrained, to greater or lesser extent, in every Montenegrin's ethical beliefs system and it is essential that it be kept in mind in order to truly understand them. Coming from non-warrior backgrounds, most of other South-Slavic nations never fully grasp it, resulting in reactions from totally ignoring it, in the best case, to mocking it or ignorantly equating it with backwardness.

Most of extraordinary examples of Montenegrin conduct during its long history can be traced to the code. Its importance is also reflected in generally very low level of religiousness in Montenegrin population. It is probably fair to say that the ethical beliefs in Montenegro more closely match those of Stoicism than those of Christianity.

The first thing that catches the attention is that the Montenegrin wedding doesn't have any music going on. In that sense it is somewhat similar to Oro, also an unavoidable part of any wedding. The music is replaced with elaborate group singing.

An absolute institution in the Montenegrin Culture. You are 'allowed' to miss someone's wedding, but not coming to their funeral will be remembered.

Funeral often turn into social events.

• A Montenegrin tradition made into law in Montenegro by King Nikola during his reign, consisting of newly-weds planting an olive tree on their wedding day as a symbol of marriage.

• An ancient Montenegrin code of honor, called simply "Zakletva", an oath of revenge for vendetta, similar to the Albanian "Besa".

• The Montenegrin law of vendetta, "Krvna Osveta", where one Montenegrin must take revenge on whoever killed his relative by killing the murderer or one of the murderer's close relatives.

A national dance of ethnic Montenegrins is called the Oro.

It is as much a communal gathering and a game as it is a dance in the strictest sense. Typically, young men and women would gather and form a circle (kolo), then start to sing, usually in form of playfully mocking someone from the other side and daring them to enter the circle to dance. One of the more daring young men would then enter the, sometimes quite intimidating, circle and start to dance in a stylistic imitation of an Eagle. The aim here is to impress, just like in any modern disco club. The gallery crowd will immediately respond with a "feedback" song, either praising or ridiculing him.

Soon, a girl would join, quite often his girlfriend or possibly someone attracted by his display. She would also imitate an Eagle, but in a more elegant way. The gallery also keeps up. When the couple gets tired, they kiss each other on the cheek and another couple jumps in to keep the kolo going, while the singing of the surrounding crowd never stops.

Sometimes when the young lads feel particularly inspired, presumably by the opposite sex in the kolo, they would form a two-storey circle, standing on one other's shoulders, inside the greater circle and this is the scene that is the most recognisable and most often photographed part of the dance.

Musical instruments are never part of the true Oro.

Montenegrins' long-standing history of struggle for freedom and independence is invariably linked with strong traditions of oral epic poetry. Traditionally, they are delivered to the audience accompanied by the music produced by gusle, one-string instrument played by the story-teller (guslar), who sings or recites the stories of heroes and battles in decasyllabic verse. Historically, these songs have had an immense motivational power over the population. The guslars commanded almost as much respect as the best of warriors, as they were as much the authors, thus history writers, as they were interpreters.

In the best "traditions" of the modern public domain and open-source movement, these songs had been composed and passed on by the unknown guslars since high middle ages onwards. Other guslars adopted the songs and could amend them as they saw fit, which usually resulted in a number of slightly different versions of the same story, of varying quality. The "quality control" were the listeners themselves, who loudly objected during the performance if some parts of the story were inaccurate or embellished out of proportions. The guslars had had more "poetical freedom" when they interpreted the events further back in the past, as there could have been no witnesses present. Thus, the historical accuracy of the song declined with the widening of the time gap. Most of the songs have been collected, assessed and recorded on paper by Vuk Karadzic in the 19th century along with Serbian epic poetry, some being of exceptional literary quality.

The most famous recorded guslar-interpreter was indisputably Petar Perunović - Perun, from Pješivci tribe. He reached his peak during the first few decades of the 20th century when he made numerous recordings and tours in America and all across Europe.

The most popular Montenegrin epic song heroes are Bajo Pivljanin, Nikac od Rovina and pop Milo Jovović. Contemporary alternative rock author Rambo Amadeus proved with his Smrt Popa Mila Jovovica (The Death of Priest Milo Jovovic) that these songs can be very successfully adapted to the modern art format without losing any of its original appeal.

Presently, these traditions are somewhat livelier in the northern parts of the country, (and also shared with people in eastern Herzegovina, western Serbia and central Dalmatia).

These are Montenegrin names that are found mostly or soley in Montenegro.

• Anđelo/Anđela
• Adrijan/Adrijana
• Arso
• Andrija/Andrijana
• Balša
• Bato
• Blagota/Bajo
• Blažo
• Boro
• Ćedo
• Dado
• Damir
• Dara
• Desimir/Desa
• Dojo
• Đukan/Đuko
• Đurađ
• Evgenije
• Gajo
• Grozdana
• Gvozden/Gvozdenja
• Kiro
• Komo
• Labud
• Lujo
• Maro/Mara
• Mašan
• Miladin
• Mijat
• Miomir
• Mihajilo
• Miraš
• Miro/Mira
• Momir
• Nešo
• Njegoš
• Orjen
• Persa
• Poleksija/Poleksa
• Radul
• Raško
• Risto
• Sekula
• Šćepan
• Špiro
• Tomo
• Tripun
• Vido/Vida
• Vitomir
• Vojo
• Vesko
• Vujan/Vujo
• Vujadin
• Vukadin
• Vukajlo
• Vukašin/Vule
• Vukota

Main article: Montenegrin cuisine

The traditional dishes of Montenegro's heartland and its Adriatic coast have a distinctively Italian flavour which shows in the bread-making style, the way meat is cured and dried, cheesemaking, wine and spirits, the soup and stew making style, polenta, stuffed capsicums, meatballs, priganice, Raštan, etc..

The second large influence came from the Levant and Turkey, lately largely via Serbia: sarma, musaka, pilav, japraci, pita, burek, Ćevapi, kebab, Turkish sweets like baklava and tulumba etc.

Hungarian dishes goulash, satarash, djuvech are also very common.

Last but not least, continental Europe made its mark mostly in the desserts department. crêpes, doughnuts, jams, myriad types of biscuits and cakes, all make a contribution to the average Montenegrin's waist-line. Wienna-style bread is the most prevalent type of bread in the shops.

Montenegrin cuisine also varies geographically; the cuisine in the coastal area differs from the one in the northern highland region. The coastal area is traditionally a representative of Mediterranean cuisine, with seafood being a common dish.

Main article: Architecture of Montenegro

Montenegro has a number of significant cultural and historical sites, including heritage sites from the pre-Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque periods. The Montenegrin coastal region is especially well known for its religious monuments, including the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, the basilica of St. Luke (over 800 years), Our Lady of the Rock (Škrpjela), the Savina Monastery and others. The Byzantine influence in architecture and in religious artwork is especially apparent in the country's interior. The ancient city of Kotor is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Main article: Montenegrin Literature

The first literary works written in the region are ten centuries old, and the first Montenegrin book was printed five hundreds years ago. The first state-owned printing press (Printing House of Crnojevići) was located in Cetinje in 1494, where the first South Slavic book was printed the same year (Oktoih). A number of medieval manuscripts, dating from the 13th century, are kept in the Montenegrin monasteries.

On the substratum of traditional oral folk epic poetry, authors like Petar II Petrović Njegoš have created their own expression. His epic Gorski Vijenac (The Mountain Wreath), written in the Montenegrin vernacular, presents the central point of the Montenegrin culture, for many surpassing in importance even the bible.

The painters from Montenegro gave a great contribution to the affirmation of the Montenegrin culture in the world. Leaving to the other parts of the world (Paris, Belgrade, Zagreb ...), they took their Montenegrin soul and heritage with them and passed it down to others through their artworks. Last 15 years saw the opening of the Faculty of the Fine Arts in Cetinje, bringing up a whole new wave of talent. Some of the most prominent artists are listed below:

• Milo Milunović
• Petar Lubarda
• Dado Đurić
• Vojo Stanić
• Dimitrije Popović

• Risto Stijović

Main article: Music of Montenegro

The art of music have been relatively neglected, especially compared to the literature and visual arts. Nevertheless, 20th century produced few outstanding composers and interpreters. Specialised Musical High Schools in Kotor and Titograd were the pillars of the classical music education, the latter being upgraded to the rank of Academy in the last decade of 20th century. Particular attention is given to Choir and Chamber music. In addition, a professional orchestra is maintained by a national TV in Podgorica.

Montenegrin National Theatre in Podgorica is the only professional theatre and along with the Faculty of Drama, located in Cetinje is responsible for the lion share of the theatre production in the country. During Summer months, City Theatre in Budva takes precedence as a stage for performers coming from all corners of former Yugoslavia and the world.

Main article: Cinema of Montenegro

Considering its population of about 600 000 people, Montenegrins have given to Yugoslavia and the world quite a number of outstanding film Directors and actors including Dušan Vukotić, the first Yugoslav Oscar winner, for the short animated film category in 1961. Veljko Bulajić and Živko Nikolić.

The 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale is partially set in Montenegro.

• Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts
• University of Montenegro

• Sport in Montenegro

• Official Montenegro Culture page
• Montenegrin P.E.N On the Endangerment of Montenegrin Culture, People and State
• Montenegrin Literary works online
• Traditional Montenegrin Music Links
• Britannica 1911 on Montenegro and Montenegrins
• Short History of Montenegrin Music
• Gusle Story Teller Perun