Everything in Šavnik somehow "smelled" of romance and revolution. The town that lies on three rivers, Bukovica, Bijela and Šavnik, protected by the slopes of Vojnik, Krnov and Ivica, where the sun rises twice, got its name from the tough willow branches.
The elders also say that the town was once called "little Paris". Most of the people's leaders from Drobnjak, during the time of the prince Nicholas, there were opposition aspirations, so that ordinary people were also oppositionists under their influence. Working in Cetinje, intellectuals from Drobnja sooner or later came into conflict with the prince, and some paid for their freedom of thought with their heads. Then Prince Nikola Šavnik called him "little Paris", alluding to the revolutionary City of Light, which was synonymous with revolution for more than a century.
After the First World War, the name "little Paris" remained. However, now the meaning was different - the place was very rich, well supplied, the town and its inhabitants followed all the fashion trends. It was said that fashion from Paris came straight to Šavnik. The families of Šavnik competed among themselves to see who would have a better house, a fuller shop, whose children would study in better schools, and who would travel the world more. When the Italian occupiers searched the homes of wealthy Šavnica families during the Second World War, they could not be surprised by the great abundance, so they said - "no less townspeople, no richer people".
Closed shops, buildings that gape empty and "kneel" on one leg, waiting to completely collapse, say that there is nothing left of wealth, so it sounds almost unbelievable that the social product per inhabitant in the municipality of Šavnik in the mid-seventies of the last century grew by average rate of 27 percent, while at the level of Montenegro, the rate was nine percent lower.
The deserted streets testify that many people left Šavnik - both intellectuals and those whose only job was in the fields, that the new road that was built to Žabljak, as the locals said, served people to escape from Šavnik, and tourists to bypass it.
The walls tell a story
Only the "revolution" in Šavnik is still going on - the local elections that started on October 23 have no end in sight, and the restaurateur Živko Jovović, whose tavern opened its doors to guests during the election marathon, despite the ban, and journalists were one of the most regulars, decided to change its name, so it will no longer be called "Marshal" but "Revolution".
Jovović says that this is in line with the characters that adorn the walls of the tavern, and to tell the truth, the "marshals" lost all battles a long time ago, not only in Šavnik, but also in the whole of Montenegro.
"Why 'Marshal'? It was the most beautiful time and the time in which I lived. It was a good time, and a good time should be remembered. And then, all my relatives were communists - on both father's and mother's side, they died for this country. The name of my grandfather, whose name I bear, is on the monument under Trebjes. He was shot in 1943. I wasn't born in that time, but I respect that time and I respect the history I studied," says Jovović as the marshal Tito silently approving his words from the wall.
The tricolor in the shape of the SFRY map with a pentacle reminds us that in this region there was a country that many people were proud of, and today, southern nostalgics talk wistfully about the land that stretched from Vardar to Triglav.
Smiling from the wall of Živko's tavern is the famous Ljubo Čupić, there is also a partisan commander Sava Kovacevic, general Danilo Jauković...
"When I expand the bar, I plan to have more of our meritorious Montenegrin-Serbian heroes on the wall," says the restaurateur, who, as he jokingly said, belongs to both Montenegrins and Serbs, and yet it is neither there nor there - it is too much for the committee, he says. lukewarm", too revolutionary for Serbs.
But there is also a figure on the wall Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Juan Evo Morales...
"I wanted him to be there Hugo Chavez, but what he did was to replace Chavez with Morales, and that's how the figure of the president of Bolivia emerged. But he also deserved to be on the wall, so there is no mistake. All of them were against America, which is the most important thing for me. That country has existed for 240 years, and the Maltese have been at war for 230 years," Jovović told "Vijesti".
On one of the walls is the image of the Russian president Vladimir Putin. When asked by "Vijesti" whether Putin "lost his way" among all those revolutionaries who led wars of liberation, while he is leading wars of conquest, Jovović answers:
"His character was drawn in 2016, before all these events (in Ukraine). But he didn't go astray. He should be there. There was one guest from Nikšić who was bothered by Putin and who did not want to sit there, and another who could not see Tito with his eyes. He asked who put him on the wall, turned and left. Unlike those two, there are many people who approve of these revolutionaries and want to be photographed. Especially when guests who are not from Montenegro come. Even the committee and Chetniks are happy to come to me. I try to respect everyone - whoever wants to be a Komita - let him be, whoever wants to be a Chetnik - that's it, what do I care. It's their choice. I am good with everyone and have no problems with any of them. After all, this is my threshold and once you cross it, my rules apply. Whoever likes it - likes it, whoever doesn't like it - doesn't even have to come".
Life, pubs and women
Živko boasts that he was the first restaurateur in Montenegro to have waitresses from Russia, that he and his tavern, as he points out, were ideal for the girls who worked there - more than 30 of them got married. Now, the story goes, some new times have come - it's hard to find a waitress, so Živko has been serving guests by himself for more than half a year. And it's not, he says, that he wouldn't like a waitress to do it for him. Even if she got married quickly.
"It's hard to find waitresses today. No one will work anymore. From time to time, on weekends, I bring music to myself from the ajtar, because I love live music. There was no music for the last three years because first there was the corona virus, and then my brother and sister died. But it will be again. The pub is my life. I love life, bars and women," says the restaurateur, whom life took away from Šavnik in his youth, with a smile.
Later, that same life, or, as he jokingly says, his crazy mind, brought him back to the town where the sun had set a long time ago.
"Mine are from Piva, and after the Second World War they colonized in Bačko Dobro Polje, near Vrbas. The old man returned to Žabljak, got married, got a job. Then in 1961 he moved to Šavnik. Since life was poor, I went to my aunt and uncle in Bačko Dobro Polje to study primary school, while I finished high school in Vrbas. When I finished school, I got a job in 'Vojvodina putu' in Pancevo, and then I moved to Belgrade, where I worked as a security guard on rafts and discotheques. God give you strength and take your wits - I raised my hand to a man I shouldn't have and I had to go back. It was in 1991".
When politics mess up the accounts
He admits that it was not easy for him and his wife to come to Savnik from Belgrade, but they quickly got used to it. After all, Šavnik, as he says, was a nice place to live in those years.
"When I came from Belgrade, I opened a bar because I didn't know what else to do, except run a bar. And Savnik in the nineties was a beautiful town and many good people lived here. There was no such unfortunate politics and life was very good. Those old people are gone. Today they cannot see each other with their eyes, brother does not speak to brother. There used to be many companies and almost a thousand workers here, but now the municipality has less than a thousand inhabitants. Everything used to work, was good, satisfied, and that is no more".
Jovović says that he would like Šavnik to be a city of romance and harmony again, for people to return to their native hearths, and not just to be visited by "elective tourists", but he does not believe that such a reality will happen.
"I won't wait for that. I love Šavnik and it is true that this is a town, but for me it is the most beautiful city - the center of the world. It's nice to live here and if it weren't for this policy, it would be the most beautiful here. There are no problems, it's peaceful. Hopefully it will get better, but I doubt it".
The people of Šavnica know who is good, they don't need someone from outside to decide
Živko says that he believes that the presidential elections in Šavnik will end before the local elections that started on October 23 last year.
"Džekna did not die, and we don't know when she will. So are these elections - when they will end, we don't know. The state should put an end to it and this should finally end, but first these lists must be revised. We are not stupid that we don't know who is good for us, so we need someone from the side to decide on that. We will choose the president, so whoever wins - good luck to him. We should not divide the people and make them quarrel".
Man and non-man the only division
Jovović proudly points out that he has never been a nationalist, that the only division when it comes to people is between human and non-human.
"For me, there are only two types of people - human and non-human. Even in my youth, and not even today, I wasn't interested in who he was, what his religion was, and what his name was. My wife Fernala is from Bijelo Polje. She is a Muslim, we met in Belgrade, got married, and then came here", says Živko and adds with a smile that "you can't do without women, but that is the only evil that is brought into the house with a song".
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