Stoliv

Stoliv is one of the bay's most secluded corners, a small village folded into the slopes beneath the Vrmac ridge on the western shore, looking across the water towards Perast. Its name is said to derive from the words for "one hundred olives", recalling an old local custom by which a young man hoping to marry was expected to plant a hundred olive trees. The village is duly wrapped in ancient olive groves, some trees reputedly over a thousand years old, threaded with Mediterranean greenery, camellias and chestnut woods. Stoliv divides in two: Lower Stoliv (Donji Stoliv) hugs the shore, a quiet line of stone houses and a small church with clear, calm water for swimming straight off the rocks; Upper Stoliv (Gornji Stoliv) clings to the hillside high above. Reaching Upper Stoliv is a reward in itself. From near the waterfront, an old pebbled stairway-path zigzags steeply uphill through olive terraces and chestnut forest, a walk of roughly forty-five minutes to the near-abandoned hamlet at around 240 metres. At the top stands the Church of St Elijah, with a panorama over almost the entire Boka. Stoliv has long associations with the camellia, introduced to the bay in the nineteenth century by a local sea captain returning from Japan, and the flower is celebrated each spring during the month-long Days of Camellia festival across Boka. Stoliv lies between Prčanj and Lastva on the western shore, around fifteen to twenty minutes' drive from Kotor's Old Town and a similar distance from Tivat airport. It suits walkers, nature lovers and anyone seeking genuine peace; there is little in the way of restaurants or shops, so come prepared and settle into the slow rhythm of the olive groves.