EAT IN ASIA / Destinations / Other destinations / Europe / Montenegro
Healthy and healing organic products from Ostrog Monastery
Visiting churches and monasteries does not only mean practicing religious rituals, praying, and giving donations. Even if you are not religious, it is worth going to some temples and feel this special atmosphere. Unique music, pathetic songs, silence in holy places, mysticism, and this incredible smell of incenses. All that makes these visits mysterious and full of spirituality. Apart from that, monks and monastics are famous for their production of natural medicines, alcohol, and organic products. All what they sell, is locally produced, with no preservatives, no colorants and in line with oldest recipes. These traditional methods, where all strict rules are kept and when no artificial components were added, let them obtain high quality products, that not only taste wonderfully, but also have healing benefits. Starting with the simplest list of herbs and spices, through honey production and finishing on different fruit products. Here, worth mentioning are jams and marmalades full of whole or chopped fruits, chutneys and pickles.
Visit Ostrog Monastery for getting natural medicines
One of the holiest and the most important from the religious point of view monastery in Montenegro is Ostrog Monastery. This monastery is really impressive. Although it does not have extremely beautiful ornaments, decorations and shapes, but is unique due to its location. It is situated on the verge of a rocky mountain and is pasted into it. Partially it is situated in a mountain cave, where the mysticism is even more visible. This spiritual atmosphere combined with the possibility of buying religious objects and organic, monastic products, makes this trip even more worth.
Yes, that is true, it is not so easily accessible, and you will have to climb till the top, but still, that is worth. Views are great and the whole perspective on the area let you finally forget about this struggling and strengthening walk. Finally, you will be able to buy some organic and healthy products!
What to buy in Ostrog Monastery' s shop?
Honey
As in the whole area and Montenegro, honey and bee products are one of the most popular and prized. They are healthy, have incredibly many positive benefits to your health and they are regional. That is really important. We already mentioned this naturality in another post, but here just to underline it – bees in Montenegro are not fed with antibiotics, artificial substances etc. They just eat what they have in their area, and what kind of flowers or trees are available for them just in that moment. Due to that, honey from region to another may vary significantly. In the Ostrog Monastery’s shop you may find many bees' products. Different honeys, bee pollen, honey spreads and even cosmetics with it.
Wine and liquors
Apart from that, another important production branch for these monks is wine and liquor. If you would like to buy their wine, the choice will be quite big. Here you will not only find regular grape wines, but also these made of other local fruits like pomegranate or figs. The size of the bottle depends usually on the wine type. These regular grape wines are usually sold in standard 0,75-liter bottles. These more sophisticated and believed to have a special healing power, are smaller – usually 250 ml.
Another type of alcohol products in the Monastery shop are multiple liquors. The most famous and liked are honey, herbal, pear, and quince products. Their alcohol content is higher than in wines but is still lower than in rakijas (the same applies to rakijas in other Balkan countries like Croatia). For brandy amateurs, the shop offers some drinks too, however, the selection is not as wide as in case of wines.
Sweets
Then, the shop also offers a number of sweet products. Jams, marmalades, syrups and even dried fruits in chocolate. Everything natural, prepared from good quality ingredients and deprived of artificial colorants or chemical substances.
Olive oil
However sweet products are not the only one you can choose. In case you prefer something more salty or just neutral, you can buy then the shop different types of olive oils and a super tasty local, Montenegrin white cheese in olive oil and herbs. It is so wonderful to eat it just with an aromatic bread with a little bit of oil!
Herbal products
Finally, there are herbal products. Different teas and dried herbs are ideal for boosting you organism, healing minor disorders or just for seasoning meals. Everything super aromatic and organic.
Cosmetics
At the far end are local cosmetics. This sector is relatively small, however still worth attention. No parabens, no artificial colorants, but just natural products.
So why not try something that is produced according to the best methods? Why not have products that are healthy, local and unique for that exact place?
