Fortress Oblun, Golubovci
Fortress Obolun is located along the eastern shore of Malo Blato of Skadar Lake, above the present village of Vukovci within Golubovci municipality. It is a rocky hill with a stretched peak divided into two parts by a small depression. In this area are the remains of the fortress from the Duclean period are located, Nevertheless, the fort might be possibly older because its rectangular concept is more reminiscent of Roman and Late Roman fortifications. Near the western corner are the remains of a smaller building built along the rampart, while the remains of the church lie almost in the center. It is a one-nave structure made of broken and carved stone.
In the historical sources Oblon is connected with the name of King Djordje. He escaped from the rebels who pressed him from all sides and finally hid in a fort called Obolun. Alexei Kontostefan, meanwhile, returned from Durres to Shkoder, so now all the commanders participated in the siege of Oblun. In the midst of the rebellion of soldiers from the immediate vicinity of King Djordje, the Oblun Fort was taken and King Djordje captured.
At Oblun a seal was discovered near the ruins of the church within the fortress, and is one of the rare finds of this kind in Montenegro. According to the chronological and paleographic analysis, the assumption is made that it could be attributed to Peter, archdeacon of Duclea. Peter was the son of Hvalimir, brother of Dragomir (governor of Travunia and Hum) and of Miroslav, who drowned in Lake Skadar, having previously ruled Podgorje. After Miroslav’s death, Petar annexed his area to his Zeta region. His place of residence was certainly Skadar, as well as Fortress Martinica Gradina. A topologically similar seal with the same paleography of the letters known as the Seal of Archont Peter was published by Gustav Schlubmerge in 1884. Today it is kept outside the borders of Montenegro in Germany.
The seal of Archont Peter, published by Gustav Schlubmerge in 1884, today is kept in Germany.
On the obverse of the seal from Oblun, there is a representation of St. George, in a standing position, with a long spear in his right hand and his left arm bent at the elbow holding the sword suspended from his belt.
The reverse has the usual abbreviated form, imprinted in three horizontal lines, which reads completely as: Kύριε βοήθη τώ σώ δούλώ, and translates: Lord save your servant Peter.
This formulation of conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ on seals has been around since the 5th century, and has been common in Greek sphragistics throughout almost all the centuries of the Byzantine Empire. According to paleographic features, the seal is dated to the 10th century, which fits in with the life and reign of Prince Petar of Dioclea.