The first destruction occurred in 1916 when Austro-Hungarian forces demolished it during Montenegrin campaign of World War I, intending to replace it with a monument to Emperor Franz Joseph.

[2] In 1968, the Cetinje Municipal Assembly unanimously decided to build the mausoleum on Lovćen, leading to the eventual demolition of Njegoš's chapel.

[2] The Serbian Orthodox Church filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court of Yugoslavia contesting the government's decision to demolish the chapel.

[2] Ruins of the church were removed in 1972 to make way for the construction of a new marble mausoleum, designed by sculptor Ivan Meštrović, which was completed in 1974.

Despite appeals from the Montenegrin Metropolitanate to restore the votive church, it has not been rebuilt, and Njegoš's resting place remains the mausoleum.