Podgorica is expanding and dressing in glass and concrete and continues to forget the birthplaces of national heroes in Piperi - Radosav Ljumović i Ivan Milutinović, which remain locked and overgrown with thorns.
Left to the ravages of time and without a clear purpose, memorial houses are a testament to the lack of will of state and city authorities to preserve them from decay.
Instead of being repurposed, the birthplaces of historical figures were left to overgrowth, brambles, moisture, inaccessible terrain...
"Vijesti" reporters were convinced on the ground that the Ljumović and Milutinović memorial houses are just part of a wider series of significant buildings that are not being cared for enough.
In the middle of last month, the "Vijesti" team visited the birthplaces of famous historical figures in Piperi, and saw for themselves that they were not in good condition.
The Podgorica institution "Museums and Galleries", as well as the Ministry of Culture and Media, did not respond when they last revised the value of these buildings. They did not answer the editorial staff how much money they invest in their maintenance, nor whether citizens have proposed initiatives for their conversion or preservation.
Restored, then forgotten
In the village of Crnci in the Piper region, just 25 minutes from the center of Podgorica, is the house of the poet, revolutionary, and fighter in the Spanish Civil War, Radosav Ljumović, after whom the Podgorica National Library has been named since 1958.
Although it was thoroughly renovated in 2002, almost no investment has been made in its preservation since then. Overgrown with bushes and brambles, with an inaccessible road, the Ljumović House is closed to the public.
However, during a tour of Ljumović's house, "Vijesti" reporters found the door ajar, scattered trash, plastic cups, and burned books. There was no electricity.
This, points out a representative of the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Association for the Development of Pipera" Aleksandar Ljumović, speaks of "long-standing neglect and lack of systemic care for the legacy of important figures in our history."
He believes that cultural heritage is viewed "declaratively", and that there is a lack of real responsibility and a long-term preservation strategy.
"With us, everything is a spontaneous reaction, we only react when something happens or when an important historical date is marked. We do not have a developed awareness that such houses and personal legacies are not private spaces, but rather represent places of collective memory and identity, and the deterioration of the houses of famous revolutionaries from Piperi sends a bad message that we do not sufficiently value our past and anti-fascist heritage, for which the Piperi paid a high price," said Ljumović.
He recalls that Radosav Ljumović's house is privately owned, adding that there were ideas to transfer rights and obligations to the Capital:
"For now, this remains only an idea. That is, we are waiting for the regulation and resolution of property-legal relations. No institution in the Capital City visits the house in question, nor does it take care of its maintenance. The current situation also suggests that the house practically has no permanent guardian."
video: Ranko Ljumovic
He claims that Piper's representatives in the local government have, on several occasions, initiated the arrangement of the space and furnishings around the house, but that "those ideas have not been realized."
"... Because there is no clearly defined leader of that process. Unfortunately, everything has remained based on good ideas and intentions. According to my knowledge, the interest of the Capital City in the renovation of the house and its conversion into a memorial space or a small museum is mainly at the level of ideas and discussions, but there have been no concrete implemented initiatives. The attitude of the Capital City and the state towards memorial houses and the legacies of historical figures sends a message of selective care and short-term memory. The impression is created that values are affirmed only on the occasion of anniversaries or special dates, while permanent institutional protection is lacking," Ljumović assesses.
He adds that such an approach endangers cultural heritage, but also discourages future generations from learning about historical figures.
"We must not forget that when you do not pay enough attention to your historical heritage and when you do not teach generations the true values, it happens that they break the monument, especially the one dedicated to the insurgents and organizers of the July 13th Uprising on Ravni laz in Piperi. It also happens that 'NN persons' draw a Nazi swastika on the monument to the fallen fighters in the National Liberation War (from 1941 to 1945) and the victims of fascist terror from the Piperi area, on the Trijebač hill," says Ljumović.
City authorities failed to fulfill their promise
After visiting the birthplace of Radosav Ljumović, the "Vijesti" crew headed to the other end of Piper to visit the home of national hero Ivan Milutinović.
About fifteen minutes from Podgorica, in the village of Cerovica in the Piper region, is the birthplace of Milutinović. The century-and-a-half-old stone house, his "cradle" in that village, remembers much better days.
The words engraved on the memorial plaque, placed on Milutinović's birthplace, are a testament to the character and deeds of the historic, but forgotten revolutionary:
"In this house, on September 27, 1901, the national hero Ivan Milutinović was born, a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia), a member of the Supreme Headquarters of the NOV and POJ (People's Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia), commander of the main headquarters of the NOPO (People's Liberation Partisan Detachments) for Montenegro and Boka, a member of the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia - he died on October 23, 1944 near Belgrade."
Although reporters from "Vijesti" visited Milutinović's house a little over a year ago, its condition has hardly changed since then.
This time the humidity was much higher, and the space, like before, had no electricity, which the host Milutin Milutinović He had already warned once. He pointed out that the house was in such bad condition that he had to uproot the mulberry tree.
"I was afraid that the branches would further damage or collapse the roof, which was already in a catastrophic state," he said.
He notes that he "patched" the facade of the house several times, as evidenced by numerous traces of plaster.
He recalled that the city authorities visited the house last year, but that they did not keep their promise - the birthplace of Ivan Milutinović is in even worse condition.
He does not hide his disappointment that the competent institutions have not addressed the condition of the house more, but that he has "heard enough promises from various delegations." He added that, in the past, children from nearby elementary schools "used to visit the house."
"... Still, this is something important, not for this region, but for the entire country. Ivan Milutinović, at that time, was extremely positioned in the government. He was also at the center of all the war events of that time. A man who had absolutely not a single stain on his career," said Milutinović.
According to him, he will shoulder the renovation of the house, "if the institutions do not want to do it."
"If the Municipality of Podgorica wants to work, then fine. If it doesn't, I will rebuild it myself."
Milutinović told "Vijesti" that he always tries to let tourists know that "the house of the national hero is located there, but that it is in such poor condition that it is not suitable for showing off."
"Even when the state delegation was here, I didn't even want the cobwebs cleaned up. I wanted to see what condition the house was in."
However, Milutinović is not completely losing hope. He pointed out that he is particularly pleased that he has been selected as the acting president of the Stijena Local Community.
This, he says, is "important for possibly more correct submission of requests for the development of the area itself, roads, infrastructure, electrical network...".
He also hopes that this will change the authorities' attitude towards Ivan Milutinović's house itself.
"To finally put it in the place it should be, as a cultural and historical monument, as a museum. The carelessness that has been present all this time has led to the stage of collapse."
Vučinić: Renovation maybe in 2027.
Councilor of the Movement for Podgorica (PzPG), Dragutin Vučinić, noted during the last session of parliament last year that "Museums and Galleries" must prepare organizationally for the coming year.
He also questioned the condition of the Ljumović and Milutinović houses.
"Ivan Milutinović's house was barely renovated in 2022. At that time, there was a dispute about the connections to the installations. So I hope that we will at least do that project and revise it and that the 2027 budget will find money to completely renovate Ivan Milutinović's house. Radosav Ljumović's house is in poor condition. No one maintains it. The heirs have not completed the inheritance procedures. We asked for the area around that house to be cleaned up, but we do not have that legal basis - to enter a yard whose owner is not the Capital City. I would like these and other such houses to be called 'Titograd Museums' and to include everything related to World War II," explained the PzPG councilor.
Bonus video:
