Soko near Štitari  
 


It is situated in the county of Lješanska nahija, between Cetinje and Danilovgrad, near the village of Štitari.

The town was mentioned in 1444, in the first charter of King Alfonse addressed to Herceg Stjepan. The fortification, belonging to the Herceg, shared the fate of Medun, i.e. he ceded them to despot Ðuradj Brankovic. However, despot Ðuradj could not keep Soko for long. When Stefanica Crnojevic rebelled against Serbia, Soko belonged to him. In 1453, the Venetians, being protectors to Stefanica, gave him a small, 30-man crew to defend Soko. Soko in Zeta became deserted during the Turkish time. At the end of the 17th century, it was already ruined.

Popular tradition connects the foundation of Soko with Ivan Crnojevic, and up to present day, the name «Soko town» or «Ivan's town» has been preserved.

Remains of the town are situated on a small rise in the middle of a petrified sea. They are overgrown with wood and weeds. The nearby cave with a fresh water spring and the remains of a bigger object built of massive stone blocks give evidence that the place had been used even before the construction of the medieval fortification.

The fortification has an irregular ground plan greatly adjusted to the terrain indentation.

Besides walls, the town possessed all the main elements of a classical medieval fortification: a citadel, towers, a water cistern, a church, a residential building and, naturally, a well defended entrance gate, between two big rocks resembling two towers.