Kotor - Montenegro | Montenegro.com

The old town is surrounded by magnificent ramparts, which continue to encircle the hill of Saint Ivan (San Giovanni) for a total length of 4.5 kilometers, which is a curiosity of world proportions. The thickness of the walls is up to 15 meters, and the height is sometimes 20 m. The view of Kotor surrounded by fortifications is one of the most privileged in life.

Regardless of whether Kotor (Montenegro) is visited by land or sea, the impression is always the same. There are simply no cities like Kotor in the world. Being in Kotor simply means feeling the spirit of the only fjord in the Mediterranean, the spirit of one of the officially most beautiful bays on planet Earth - the spirit of Boka Kotorska (Montenegro).

Scientists speculate that the lost ancient city of Acruvium must have been located in this place. Legend has it that the fairy Alkima (Greek: Strong) advised Emperor Stefan Dušan not to build the city on a hill "where there is no dock for a ship, nor a playground for a horse", but along the coast. According to the mythological story, Kotor was founded by the Colchians, members of the Phoenician tribe, who found themselves after the stern of the Argonauts, Jason, Hercules, Theseus, Pollux, Castor and Orpheus - in pursuit of the symbol of all maritime wealth, the Golden Fleece.

It will be said that Kotor (just like Budva) was founded in the pre-Homeric era (10-12th century BC), while the Phoenicians, the teachers of the Greeks, ruled the Mediterranean. Kotor is as old as maritime trade on the Adriatic. He is exactly - ancient.

It was originally called Katareo, a place of hot springs, then Decatera, Dekaderon, Katarum... The Greeks were here during 7-4. c. ex. n. e. The Illyrians are coming. Then the Romans, who ruled for about 650 years. In the 5th century, the city was destroyed by the Goths. With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (476), Boka and Kotor fell under the rule of Byzantium (400 years). In the 7th c. Kotor becomes the capital of Boka Kotorska, which remains to this day: under the invasion of the Slavs, the Romans from Risno, the then capital of the Gulf, move to Kotor.

The period of the Dukljan-Zeta rulers follows (10-11th century), when the Slavic population begins to dominate. Kotor experienced its greatest economic and cultural boom during the era of Nemanjić; as part of the Serbian state (1185-1371), it has the widest autonomy, and management according to its own Statute. Stefan Nemanja built a palace in Kotor. After the collapse of the Serbian state, due to the Turkish invasion, Kotor occasionally recognizes the Hungarian king, the Venetian Republic, the Bosnian king Tvrtko I (1371-1379) as its rulers. The city is also an independent republic (1391-1420) headed by a prince.

Due to the threat from the Turks, Kotor decided to be protected by the Republic of Venice (1420-1797), which saved it from destruction and enabled economic and cultural development. From 1979 to 1814, the authorities changed: Austro-Hungarian (1797), Russian (1806), French (1808-1813). Under the government of Montenegrin Metropolitan Petar I Petrović, the unification of Boka with Montenegro was proclaimed in 1813. From the next, and for another 100 years in a row, Kotor was ruled by Austria. In 1918, Kotor and Boka (Montenegro) became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, that is, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The Old Town is entered through three gates, of which the Western or Sea Gate from 1555 is the main one. Wedged in the bottom of the mountain Lovcen massif, bounded from the north by the short river Škurda, and from the south by the underwater source Gurdić, Kotor is by all accounts (after the catastrophic earthquake of 1667) a baroque city. All the palaces, hundreds of them, were renovated in the Baroque style. From everything, it is obvious that here, apart from construction, maritime and shipbuilding, trade, painting, crafts flourished. Kotor's medieval armorers and goldsmiths are famous. When he says in Gorski vijenc that "there are all kinds of masters on the sea", then Njegoš, the greatest among poets, rightly means Kotor.

The city, which today is on the UNESCO list of world and cultural heritage for a reason, is proud of Friar Vito, the architect of the Dečani monastery, the icon painter Lovro Marinov Dobrićević, and a list of famous Kotorans, sea captains, diplomats, printers, poets... a list that is endless. The tradition of seafaring, unique in the world, heritage since the 12th century (!) the famous Bokel navy, the original brotherhood with its special admiralty, costume, traditional car, and not only folklore significance.

Kotor is the only city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic whose name is always on all historical maps. It is the only Mediterranean city-labyrinth, which gives it a special charm during the tourist season: "Where is this or that landmark?" Well, even though maps are available to all guests, again and again! it can easily get lost in the tangle of illogically crossed and mutually arranged streets! So be careful!

The dominant cathedral of St. Trupuna from the 12th c. it's easy to find, if you turn right from the entrance and the biggest one, Trg od Oruza, past the Baroque palaces of Byzantium and Beskuća, then past the Pima Palace - but how do you find the Grgurin Palace (Maritime Museum), or how do you find the squares with unusual names: Trg od Salata, Trg od milaka, Trg od drva, Trg od kina (cinema)..., in Kotor's urban baroque labyrinth? How to find the Exit from the Old Town?

It's not good to come to Kotor for one-day trips. And if, by accident, he comes to daylight, then the route is this: Right through the Square of Weapons, to the Square of Flour, and further to the Cathedral, then to the left, through the sea of people, to the Maritime Museum, and further along the same street to the Orthodox Church of St. Luke and Nikole, then to the left, along Istok-Zapad Street, again to the main city square, Trg od Oruza. In the colors of blue, there is the Gate of the Sea - the exit.