a replica of the printing press from the Crnojević Printing House

17 July 2023
Pilot project: a replica of the printing press from the Crnojević Printing House was created
Overview

A replica of the printing press from the first South Slavic Cyrillic printing press and the first state printing press in the world is on display from today in Njegoševa Biljarda in Cetinje

In the scope of the Due Mari project a replica of the printing press, from the first South Slavic Cyrillic and the first state printing house in the world, was exhibited in the Njegos Museum -Biljarda in Cetinje. The Njegos Museum was founded in 1951. in the renewed residence of the Montenegrin ruler Petar II Petrovic Njegos, which was built in 1838.

The project activity was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Media, as well as the National Museum of Montenegro, which was assigned to manage the printing press. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Montenegro implemented this pilot activity.

According to the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, Mr Armend Milla, the implementation of this pilot project made a significant contribution to the Montenegrin cultural and touristic offer.

Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, prof. dr. Radoje Vujadinovic considers this moment is of great importance for Montenegro, especially its tradition and history.

Since the historical sources do not contain information about the layout of the printing house, the project team from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, led by prof. Dr. Radoslav Tomovic, based on available data from literature and Internet about the appearance and functioning of Gutenberg's printing press, created a replica of Crnojevic's printing press.

The director of the National Museum of Montenegro, Mr Jaksa Calasan, said that the replica of the printing press is exhibited in the Biljarda, not far away from the location where it was originally placed.

Ms Tamara Djukić and Maja Kovacevic, were present as members of the Due Mari project team. Maja  presented to the audience more about the basics of the project, its outputs and benefits, especially when and how was born an idea to realize replica of the printing press from the Crnojevic Printing House, and emphasized the necessity of better valorization of Montenegrin rich cultural heritage as an important part for our the Montenegrin tourist offer.