Abstract The chemical composition of the essential oil of Satureja montana L. subsp. montana (Lamiaceae), obtained from the air-dried plant material by hydrodistillation, was analyzed using GC and GC/MS. The major components were thymol (33.4%) and p-cymene (28.8%). The essential oil was tested against five bacterial species by the agar well diffusion technique. All of the bacteria are potential skin contaminants. The oil and its 5% solution in ethanol showed antimicrobial activity against all of the tested bacteria. The most susceptible organisms were Corynebacterium sp., while the most resistant organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa.