Pirlitor was a medieval fortress in Mount Durmitor

Durmitor

Durmitor is a massif and the name of a national park in North Western Montenegro. It reaches a height of 2,522 m .The massif is bordered by Tara River Canyon on the North, Piva River Canyon on the West, and by Komarnica River Canyon on the South. To the East, Durmitor is open to a vast ...

, in Old Herzegovina

Old Herzegovina

Old Herzegovina is a historical region in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina . The largest city in this region in Nikšić, and the second-largest is Herceg Novi. Until the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the Old Hercegovina was part of Bosnian Pashalik, but since then merged into Montenegro....

, built at the edge of the deep canyon of the Tara River. Only a part of the wall at the fortress's highest point has survived to the present day. It is located 16 km from the town of Žabljak

Žabljak

Žabljak is a small town in northern Montenegro. It has a population of 1,937.Žabljak is the seat of the municipality...

, at the altitude of about 1450 meters. Pirlitor overlooked the medieval road between Nikšić

Nikšić

Nikšić is a city in Montenegro . In 2003 the city had a total population about 75,000.Nikšić is located in Nikšić plain, at the foot of Mount Trebjesa. It is the center of the municipality , which is the largest in Montenegro by area...

 and Pljevlja

Pljevlja

Pljevlja is a town and municipality located in the northern part of Montenegro. The city lies at an altitude of...

, at the place where the road descended from Durmitor's Lake Plateau into the canyon.

Pirlitor is not mentioned in medieval sources. It is known that Voivode Sandalj Hranić

Sandalj Hranic, Grand Duke of Hum

Sandalj Hranić Kosača was a medieval noble from the House of Kosača. He ruled the area between Neretva and Drina rivers in Bosnia with the title Grand Duke of Hum between 1392 and his death in 1435....

 had a court on the Lake Plateau, where his successor Voivode Stjepan Vukčić

Stjepan Vukcic Kosaca

Stjepan Vukčić Kosača was a Herzegovina nobleman. He was a member of the House of Kosača, a Grand Duke of Herzegovina, Lord of Zahumlje and Primorje and also Herzog of Serbian Saint Sava...

 negotiated peace with the Ragusa

Republic of Ragusa

The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...

ns in 1453. This court could actually be Pirlitor, since it is the only fortification known to have been built on the plateau.

According to the Serbian epic poetry

Serbian epic poetry

Serb epic poetry is a form of epic poetry written by Serbs originating in today's Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. The main cycles were composed by unknown Serb authors between the 14th and 19th centuries...

, Pirlitor belonged to Voivode Momčilo, a man of immense size and strength who possessed magical attributes: a winged horse named Jabučilo and a sabre

Sabre

The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

 with eyes. His sister Jevrosima was the legendary mother of Prince Marko

Prince Marko

Marko Mrnjavčević was de jure the Serbian king from 1371 to 1395, while de facto he ruled only over a territory in western Macedonia centered on the town of Prilep...

, one of the greatest heroes of Serbian epic poems. In one of them, the situation of the "Pirlitor Castle" is described like this:

Кад погледаш с града изнад себе, Ништа немаш лијепо виђети, Већ бијело брдо Дурмитора Окићено ледом и снијегом Усред љета, као усред зиме; Кад погледаш стрмо испод града, Мутна тече Тара валовита, Она ваља дрвље и камење.

If from the Castle thou lookest up, Thou hast naught that is fair to see But only white Durmitor mountain Arrayed in ice and snow, In summer as in winter; If from the Castle thou lookest down, Yonder gloomy Tara floweth turbulent, Rolling with it trees and stones.