Uncountable famous and great minds who ascended towards the monastery have written about the indescribable beauty of not only its physical surroundings, but of the spiritual road they traveled here. The monastery was visited even when there was no paved path leading to it, and the climb would take hours on foot, but faith and hope and prayer gave even the weakest the strength to climb its rough sides.
Many renowned writers wrote with excitement about the romantic ambiance and the cultural-historic worth of the monastery Ostrog. Amongst these writers was Peter II Petrovic Njegos who mentions it in is most famous work “Gorski Vijenac”; followed by Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj – one of the most famous Serbian poets of all times, and Aleksa Santic – the most famous poet from Herzegovina.
Ostrog has been documented in memoirs and travel logs of many scientist and writers that traveled to Montenegro during the XIX century. In the beginning of the XX century, a German prince wrote about the monastery: “Ostrog is not only a holy place for orthodoxy, but the answer for all world religions”.
The English scientist John Gardner Wilkinson could not stop praising the feeling of Christian brotherhood and the welcome he received. His writings focus on the courageous and unconquerable highlanders that have lived in the area and defended the monastery thru time.
Viala de Somier, a general of Napoleons army, commander of Herceg Novi and the governor of the Kotor province wrote a book under the title “Voyage historique et politique au Montenegro” and devoted it to the monastery and Saint Basil. He described in detail the churches and its surroundings, as well as Saint Basil and the fact that he was loved by Montenegrins, Bosnians, Serbs, Albanians as well as Italians and Turks.
Many came to visit the monastery. Even the last king of Yugoslavia, King Petar Kradjordjevic, the largest Serbian patriarch Gavril Dozic, many ambassadors and diplomats that resided in the area, the Russian patriarch Aleksey, and many other pariahs from around the orthodox world made the journey to Ostrog.