Classroom lesson · Lovćen Mountain · 🇲🇪 Montenegro

Lovćen Mountain

Montenegro's heart mountain, with views stretching to the sea

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Lovćen is a mountain that sits at the heart of Montenegro — in fact, the country's name itself comes from this mountain. 'Montenegro' means 'Black Mountain' in Italian, and locals have called Lovćen that for centuries because its dark forested slopes look almost black from a distance. The mountain rises sharply from the coast and a national park protects its forests, meadows and wildlife.

Tell me more

From the top of Lovćen on a clear day you can see both the Adriatic Sea and the mountains of the interior stretching away to the north. The view switches between blue water and green hills like a picture split in two. The park is a favourite destination for hikers, who follow paths through ancient black pine forests and open meadows full of wild flowers.

The name 'Montenegro' — Black Mountain — was given by Venetian sailors looking at Lovćen's dark slopes from their ships on the Adriatic. The mountain appears almost black because of the thick forest of dark-needled pines covering it. When snow lands on top in winter, the white cap against the dark slopes is especially dramatic and beautiful.

Lovćen National Park is home to many animals including roe deer, wild boar, foxes and golden eagles that ride the warm air currents rising up the steep slopes. In spring and early summer the meadows are full of wildflowers — orchids, gentians and crocuses push up between the rocks in vivid purples and yellows. The park is also an important area for butterflies.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Montenegro is named after a mountain. Can you think of other countries or cities named after a natural feature?
  2. 02Sailors at sea named Lovćen 'Black Mountain' from far away. How might a place look very different close up compared to from a distance?
  3. 03Golden eagles use rising warm air (thermals) to soar. How is that similar to how a glider or hang-glider works?
  4. 04Why might a country be proud of its mountains?
Try this

Classroom activity

Investigate place names in your own country. Find three place names that describe the landscape (hill, river, valley, forest, etc.) and draw a small picture of what that feature looks like. Present your findings to the class.