Pirlitor was a medieval fortress in

Mount Durmitor Durmitor ( Montenegrin: Дурмитор, or ) is a massif located in northwestern Montenegro. It is part of the Dinaric Alps. Its highest peak, Bobotov Kuk, reaches a height of . The massif is limited by the Tara River Canyon on the north, the ...

, in

Old Herzegovina Old Herzegovina ( sr, Стара Херцеговина, Stara Hercegovina) is a historical region, covering the eastern parts of historical Herzegovina, outside the scope of modern Herzegovina. A large section of ''Old Herzegovina'' belongs to ...

(part of present-day

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

), built at the edge of the deep canyon of the

Tara River The Tara ( sr-cyrl, Тара) is a river in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It emerges from the confluence of the Opasnica and Veruša rivers in the Komovi Mountains, part of the Dinaric Alps of Montenegro. The total length is 146 ...

. Only a part of the wall at the fortress's highest point has survived to the present day. It is located 16 km from the town of

Žabljak Žabljak ( Serbian / Montenegrin: Жабљак, ) is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,723. Žabljak is the seat of Žabljak Municipality (2011 population: 3,569). The town is in the centre of the Durmitor mountain ...

, at the altitude of about 1450 meters. Pirlitor overlooked the medieval road between

Nikšić Nikšić ( cnr, Никшић, italic=no, sr-cyrl, Никшић, italic=no; ), is the second largest city in Montenegro, with a total population of 56,970 located in the west of the country, in the centre of the spacious Nikšić field at the foot ...

and

Pljevlja Pljevlja ( srp, Пљевља, ) is a town and the center of Pljevlja Municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The town lies at an altitude of . In the Middle Ages, Pljevlja had been a crossroad of the important commercial roads and ...

, at the place where the road descended from Durmitor's Lake Plateau into the canyon.Pirlitor
. ''The medieval towns in Montenegro''. NGO Expedition. Pirlitor is not mentioned in medieval sources. It is known that

Voivode Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the me ...

Sandalj Hranić Sandalj Hranić Kosača ( cyrl, Сандаљ Хранић Косача; 1370 – 15 March 1435) was the most powerful Bosnian nobleman whose primary possessions consisted of land areas between Adriatic coast, the Neretva and the Drina river ...

had a court on the Lake Plateau, where his successor Voivode

Stjepan Vukčić Stjepan is a Croatian masculine given name, variant of Stephen, used by ijekavian speakers. In Croatia, the name Stjepan was among the top ten most common masculine given names in the decades up to 1969. Notable people with the name include: * S ...

negotiated peace with the

Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to: Places Croatia * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...

ns in 1453. This court could actually be Pirlitor, since it is the only fortification known to have been built on the plateau. According to the

Serbian epic poetry Serbian epic poetry ( sr, Српске епске народне песме, Srpske epske narodne pesme) is a form of epic poetry created by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The ...

, Pirlitor belonged to Voivode Momčilo, a man of immense size and strength who possessed magical attributes: a winged horse named Jabučilo and a

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

with eyes. His sister Jevrosima was the legendary mother of

Prince Marko Marko Mrnjavčević ( sr-cyr, Марко Мрњавчевић, ; – 17 May 1395) was the ''de jure'' Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while he was the ''de facto'' ruler of territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep. He ...

, one of the greatest heroes of Serbian epic poems. In one of them, the situation of the "Pirlitor Castle" is described like this:

References

{{coord, 43.163, N, 19.234, E, display=title Forts in Montenegro Ruins in Montenegro Serbian epic poetry