RELICS

In Cetinje are three great relics of Christianity. In the Cetinje Monastery are kept the hand of Saint John the Baptist (who baptized Christ) and the piece of the True Cross (piece of the cross on which Christ was crucified); in the Government House, in the Blue Chapel is kept Icon of Lady of Philerme.
Three great relics of Christianity had a long historical way until they arrived to Cetinje. From Jerusalem, through Constantinople, they became property of Cross-Knights of St John the Baptist who confiscated them on their campaigns. Firstly, they were placed in Rodos, and from the middle of 16th century at Malta. So, the knights of the St John the Baptist were called The Maltese Cross-Knights. During Napoleon’s wars, the general of Maltese Cross-Knights gave the relics to Russian emperor Pavle I Romanov in 1779. Relics were kept at Romanov’s court in Petrograd till Bolshevik revolution in Russia in 1799. Maria Fiodorovna, mother to Nikolaj II took them to Copenhagen. At the end of her life, she gave it to the Russian metropolitan Antonie Hrapovicki who brought them to Belgrade through Berlin. They were given as a gift to the King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic, as a gratefulness of Russian people and church for accepting a great number of Russian refugees. Relics were kept in the royal court in Belgrade till 1941, when King Petar II , with metropolitan Gavrilo Dozic gave them to the authorities of the monastery Ostrog. They were moved to National safe-box, the hand of the St John the Baptist and the piece of the True Cross are given to the Montenegrin metropolitan Danilo Dajkovic in Cetinje Monastery, while Icon of the Lady of Philerme was given to the National Museum in Cetinje in 1978 where is kept today. These relics are among the most famous of Christianity. They are kept in golden frames, decorated with diamonds, rubies and sapphires.

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