(nēk'shĭch) , town (1991 pop. 56,141), central Montenegro. It is the commercial center of an agricultural region. It is also an important industrial city with a steel mill, sawmill, ironworks, and a hydroelectric plant. Founded in the early Middle Ages, Nikšić was under Turkish rule until 1878, when it passed to Montenegro. The town has a Byzantine cathedral (the gift of Nicholas II of Russia) and a Roman bridge.