King Nikola’s Palace, dating from the 19th century, is one of the main attractions in the port city of Bar in Montenegro. Located on Boulevard King Nikola, close to the city centre, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, it was designed in 1885 by architect Josip Slade. Although one may think it was built by King Nikola, the one and only Montenegrin king, it was actually ordered by Prince Petar Karađorđević, king Nikola’s son- in-law. After his marriage to the eldest daughter of king Nikola, Princess Ljubica (also known as Zorka), Prince Petar moved from Serbia to Montenegro. Long after the death of his wife (on the 16th of March 1890, giving birth to their 5th child), in 1903 Prince Petar Karađorđević became King Peter I of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, which was later to annex Montenegro in 1918, whose king was Nikola himself. The initial name of the palace was Villa Topolica. The name was given by Prince Petar Karađorđević, inspired by the town of Topola in Serbia, where he had been born. King Nikola bought the palace from his son-in-law and changed its name into King Nikola’s Palace, as we know it today.
Initially, the Palace served as summer residence for the king and his large family. King Nikola was married to Milena, daughter of the voivode Petar Vukotić, and they had 12 children. Five of his daughters were married to princes and kings, Nikola was even nicknamed “Europe’s father in law”, a nickname he shared with the king of Denmark of the time. Zorka’s sister, Milica, married the Grand Duke Peter Nicolaevich of Russia, Anastasia the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich of Russia and Princess Anna the Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg. Nikola’s fourth daughter, Princess Jelena, became Queen Helen of Italy, as wife of the king Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.
She persuaded her husband to lobby Italy’s then prime-minister, Benito Mussolini, to support the creation of an independent kingdom of Montenegro in 1941. In 1943, she had her nephew, Prince Michael of Montenegro (who had been taken prisoner after refusing to become a king under Italy’s protection) and his wife Geneviève released from a German prison.
Later, the king offered the Palace to his daughter, Princess Zorka, and to his son in law, Prince Petar Karađorđević, thus returning it to the initial owner.
The palace is actually a complex of buildings, consisting of the large palace, a small palace, a chapel, a guard tower and a winter garden. The outside shady gardens accommodate plants grown from seeds and buds collected from the entire world by seamen of Montenegro. Visitors can see Mediterranean vegetation, including a cork oak. The palace also has a greenhouse (in a stainless steel frame with an interesting shape), a gift from the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III, which is now a restaurant called Knjaževa Bašta (“The Prince’s Garden”). Many years ago, the king ordered a wooden pier to be built in front of the castle, which he used to dock ships and his own yachts or those of his friends who came to visit. The king himself was very fond of yachts and owned some 12 such boats between 1866 and 1916. The most famous yacht was the „Sybil”. King Nikola wanted a yacht previously owned by a celebrity. Thus, in 1886, he commissioned Savo Petković, his best captain, to go to Nantes and buy the Saint Michel III, a yacht owned by Jules Verne. The travel of the rebaptised yacht from Nantes to Kotor was the first long distance sailing trip in the history of Serbia and Montenegro. It was also the first ship ever to sail in the international seas under the Montenegrin flag. The last yacht bought by the king was called Rumija and it was sunk by the Austro-Hungarian navy in the port of Bar in 1915.
Since 1959 the complex has hosted the municipal museum of Bar. Its permanent exhibits include archaeologic, historical, ethnologic and art collections, as well as royal furniture. They are presented in chronological order – from the antiquity to the beginning of the 20th century. On the ground floor there are various exhibitions: for instance an entire room is dedicated to the history of olive oil, which is the main agricultural occupation in the region of Bar. Here there are some traditional tools, such as a huge wooden oil press, as well as old oil pottery.
Another room hosts a small lapidarium. On the upper floor there are collections of weaponry, maps, military decorations and even old flags, as well as a collection of traditional Montenegro costumes and jewels. The exhibition King Nikola Memorial is entirely dedicated to the daily life of the royal family, illustrated through partially restored rooms in the original palace. The very elegant Red Salon, with comfortable sofas and armchairs, was one of the favourite rooms of the royal family. They gathered there to enjoy the music played at the piano installed in the room. One can also visit the office, the dining room, the bathroom or the bedroom, where items belonging to Princess Milica are on display.
The palace is well preserved and practically intact from its beginning. Only the wooden pier is now gone. Besides being a museum, King Nikola’s Palace is a popular venue for festivals, concerts, exhibitions and literary activities.
King Nikola’s Palace stands today as proof that under the rule of king Nikola I Petrovic, the Montenegrin state gave proper importance to the social, cultural and architectural trends in the 19th century and in the first decades of the 20th century. King Nikola also gave Montenegro’s first constitution, in 1905.
At the same time, he introduced the freedom of the press and a criminal code based on a Western model. In 1906 he supervised the establishment of the national currency of Montenegro, the perper (between 1906 and 1918). After the integration of the state of Montenegro in the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, the Montenegrin perper was replaced in 1918 by the Yugoslav krone and in 1920 by the Yugoslav dinar. King Nikola was also a poet, composing “Onamo ‘namo!”, a popular song in Montenegro and Serbia.
In January 1916, after the defeat of Serbia, Montenegro was occupied by Austro-Hungary. King left for Italy and then France, where he established his “base” at Bordeaux. He still officially represented Montenegro, but unlike Serbia, he had no army. Most of his time in France was spent on trying to create support for his goals, but with every passing day it was harder and harder to do so, as big majority of Montenegrins, in and out of the country supported Union with Serbia. Until the end of the war relations between Montenegro (official government) and Serbian government were worse and worse, with lies about high treason being thrown. King Nikola was losing more and more of his allies with every year, in the end only Italy was left as his supporter. After the end of WWI, an assembly organized by the Serbs in Podgorica voted to depose King Nikola and for Montenegro to be annexed to Serbia. The throne was taken by King Peter I, his former son- in-law. Several months later, Serbia (now including Montenegro) united with the former southern Slavic territories of Austro-Hungary to form the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, in 1929. Nikola left to France in exile in 1918, but continued to claim his throne until his death in Antibes, three years later. He was buried in Italy. In 1989, the remains of Nikola, of Queen Milena and of two of their 12 children were brought and buried in Montenegro.
Alina Margineanu – Balkazaar contributor
