Crnojević printing house


The Crnojević printing house or Cetinje printing house, was the first printing house in Southeastern Europe; the facility operated between 1493 and 1496 in Cetinje, Zeta.
It was founded by Đurađ Crnojević, the ruler of Zeta between 1490 and 1496. The printing press was operated by Serbian Orthodox monks at the supervision of Hieromonk Makarije. The Crnojević printing press was also the first state press in the world. Five Orthodox liturgical books were printed in this printshop: Oktoih Prvoglasnik, Oktoih Petoglasnik, Psaltir, Trebnik and Cvetni Triod.
In his 1514 letter to Ragusan senate, Ragusan nobleman Luka Primojević emphasized that he had intention to print books using the same letters used by Serbian priests in their churches, the same letters used in the Crnojević printing house which books were well respected and praised. Although his intention to establish a printing house in Dubrovnik and to print Cyrillic books failed, his written statements left significant testimony about high reputation of books printed in the Crnojević printing house.