Bar (Italian: Antivari) is a coastal town and seaport in southern Montenegro. It's the capital of the Bar Municipality and a center for tourism. Bar is a shortened form of Antivari, which is derived from the town's location across the Adriatic Sea from Bari, Italy.

Local archaeological findings date to the Neolithic era. It is assumed that Bar was mentioned as the reconstructed Roman castle, Antipargal, in the 6th century. The name Antibarium was quoted for the first time in the 10th century.

Bar is located on the coastal western border of Montenegro on the shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is approximately 53 kilometres from Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. To the east is the largest lake in the Balkans, Lake Skadar. To the west, across the sea, is Italy.

Bar is the administrative centre of Bar Municipality, which includes the town of Sutomore and other small coastal towns. The municipality of Bar is divided into 12 communes (mjesna zajednica), consisting of 83 settlements.

Although there are some nice stony beaches in Bar itself, many tourists choose destinations in other small towns in the Bar municipality, notably Sutomore, with its beautiful long sandy beach. The natural area around Bar is mostly untouched and is rich in vegetation. The Bar municipality stretches to the southern shore of Skadar lake and encompasses Krajina region. This entire area is suitable for leisure activities and hiking. Smaller settlements near Bar, such as Dobra Voda, Sutomore and Čanj, are a favourite destination for sunbathing, as they incorporate long sandy beaches.

Places of interest

The Old Olive of Mirovica is said to be one of the oldest olive trees in Europe and one of the oldest trees in the world. In 1957, it was placed under state protection. Numerous legends and traditions are associated with the tree. For instance, families that had a dispute would come to the tree to make peace. This explains its name, Mirovica, mir meaning peace.

King Nikola’s palace was built in 1885. It was a present from King Nikola to his daughter Princess Zorka and his son-in-law, Prince Petar Karađorđević. The construction included a large palace, a little palace, a chapel, guardhouses and a winter garden. In 1910, a spacious ballroom was added. A botanic garden has Mediterranean vegetation including a cork tree. There is also a large flower garden in a stainless steel structure of interesting shape. it was a gift from King Emmanuel of Italy to King Nikola. It is now a restaurant called Knjaževa bašta (The Duke’s Garden). At the front of the palace, there was a wooden pier. Between 1866 and 1916, King Nikola owned ten yachts. One of them, Sibil, was bought from Jules Verne, the novelist. The last yacht bought was the Rumija. In 1915, it was sunk in the Bar harbour by the Austro-Hungarian navy. The palace complex houses the Bar city museum. It is also used as a venue for festivals, concerts, exhibitions and literary events.

Nehaj Fortress, partially preserved, is located near the small seaside town of Sutomore. It has been held by both Venetians and Ottoman Turks. It was first recorded as the 16th century Fortezza dei Spizi, a Venetian fortified town.

The Bar Aqueduct was constructed during the 16th and 17th centuries.

Bijeljina is the city and center of the municipality of the same name in the northeastern part of the Republic of Srpska. The municipality's area is 734 km² and the total population is approximately 114,663. The city is the historical center of Semberija and one of the richest cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a fertile plain town, it is one of the centers for the production and trade of food. Bijeljina is recognizable by the spacious central square, whose beauty enhances the pleasant ambience of the City Park.

In May 2012, the Government of the Republic of Srpska made a decision to change the status of the municipality of Bijeljina by which Bijeljina was granted the status of the city in 1992.

In the area of ​​Bijeljina municipality, for now the oldest confirmed traces of human life originate from the young Stone Age (5000-3000 BC). Remains from the period of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age and Antique period were also recorded. Locations Gradac and Agricultural Land were searched in Batković, Glavičice, Kućerina in Dvorovi, Kočinovac village, Brodić in Triješnica, and from the ancient period, a Roman villa was discovered at the location of Prekaja in Brodac, and in Velika Obarska was found a lead tile of cult purposes with a play 'Danubian horsemen'.

The most famous Old Serbian and Old Slavic site was explored on both sides of Bistrica between the villages of Batković and Ostojićevo and consisted of 4 localities between the 7th and 12th centuries. It is especially important that a large complex of workshops in the metallurgical settlement where the ancestors in the 8th century dissolved iron and produced iron tools was explored at the Čelopek locality, as clearly evidenced by the finding of the gus - graphite pot kept in the Bijeljina Museum. At this time, the settlement of Bistrica, the likely name of Bistrica, was undoubtedly the center of the parish which encompassed the entire plain before Bijeljina emerged.

The first mention of the name Bijeljina is lost in the distant past. In the "Yearbook of Pop Dukljanin" one victory of Zahumski prince Bele - Pavlimiro against Hungarians "is mentioned in the Belina plain". Today in science it is believed that the first sure significance of the settlement of Bijeljina was that of March 3, 1446, when a Dubrovnik merchant was robbed by the people of Ilica Ban.

Bijeljina is a rare city that has only changed the entire population in only the last 500 years. For the first time it was with the arrival of the Turks in 1520, and the second time with the arrival of the Austrians in 1716. According to the Zvornik Sandzak census in 1533, only 4 villages are mentioned in the abandoned Bijeljina region: Cetvrtkovište, Mirkovci (Dašnica), Grm (Galac) and Čukojevići (Modran) with 55 houses in total. In the next census of 1548, there were 17 villages with 772 houses, of which 554 were Orthodox and 218 Muslim. From this time also is the oldest building in the Bijeljina municipality, which is the spiritual center of the Serbs of this region - the Tavna Monastery, the non-Banjanic endowment.