June 1, 2018 - Crnojevića Printing Press (Montenegrin: Štamparija Crnojevića) is the first South Slavic printing press. It was founded in 1493, and it was closed in 1496. It is known that the Crnojevića Printing Press is the first Cyrillic printing press in the Balkans. Cetinje got its first printing press before the majority of European and the world's largest cities. Though substantial scientific evidence doesn’t exist, there is an opinion that it firstly existed at Obod, near Rijeka Crnojevića, and then it was moved to Cetinje.
In the first years of his reign, Đurađ Crnojević (1490-1496), the ruler of Zeta, managed to hire printing workers and procured equipment for the establishment of the first printing press, which started working in 1493 in Cetinje. The printing of its first book was completed at the very beginning of 1494. On the 4th of January, 1494 the first book was completed – Oktoih prvoglasnik. During the next three years, other religious books were printed: Cetinjski Oktoih petoglasnik, Psaltir sa posledovanjem, Trebnik, Četvorojevanđelje, and Cvetni triod. Crnojevića Printing Press was closed in 1496 due to the changed political circumstances that resulted in the departure of Đurđe Crnojević from Montenegro. Even after the printing press was closed, the books remained as a testimony of its existence and the circumstances at that period in Montenegro. The books that were printed in the Crnojevića Printing Press were high-quality two-color books, and they had many different illustrations that provided them the high reputation among old-printed books.
The National Library of Montenegro "Đurđe Crnojević" will celebrate 525 years since the founding of Crnojević Printing Press on Monday, 4th of June, 2018. The exhibition will be opened by the famous writer, essayist, and publicist Borislav Cimeša. As a part of the program, the documentary film "Žabljak Crnojevića" by the author Branko Baletić will be presented. Branko Baletić is a famous Yugoslav and Montenegrin film and TV director.
The program starts at 19:00 in the library hall in Cetinje.
