Bay of Boka Kotorska

Bay of Boka Kotorska

| | | | |

In the club of the most beautiful bayes of the world

In the bay of Risan there are two islands – Sveti Djordje and Gospa od Skrpjela. Religious objects with art works of priceless value are located on these islands. On the island, there is a collection of archaeological exhibits, paintings of ships and objects of art and everyday life. Perast’s small islands - St.Djordje and Gospa od Skrpjela are inseparably connected to historical, maritime and cultural development of Perast, altogether they make the most magic part of the bay of Boka.

Gospa od Skrpjela is a place where many pilgrims and curious people gather. It was made on an artificial island and represents the most beautiful testament to the Mother of God, a unique object in the whole Mediterranean. Building of the small chapel started on July 22, 1945, when, according to the legend, Martesic brothers, fishermen from Perast, found an icon of the Virgin Mary, which allegedly helped curing one of them. They started piling up rocks and old, wrecked sailboats on a cliff and thus started a hard process of building Gospa od Skrpjela. This turned into traditional custom. Every year, at the end of the day, on July 22, boats full of stones sail to Gospa’s reef where the stones are disposed and in that way the centuries-long tradition of preserving the Virgin Mary’s sanctuary continues.

The most famous and most valuable tapestry is here on Gospa od Skrpjela. It was embroidered by Jacinta Kunic-Mijovic and it took her 25 years to finish it while waiting her darling to come from a long journey. She used golden and silver fibres but what makes this tapestry so famous is the fact that she embroidered her own hair in it.

The Montenegrin Riviera is certainly the most attractive part of Montenegro. The most complex morphological entity is the Bay of Boka Kotorska, which consists of four enlargements interconnected by straits. At the entrance by the sea there are the Bay of Herceg Novi and the Bay of Tivat, which are interconnected by the Strait of Kumbor. Going inward, you enter the Bay of Risan and the Bay of Kotor, which are connected with the Bay of Tivat by a narrow maritime entity called Verige. The Bay of Boka Kotorska is one of the most beautiful bays in the world. It is 30 km long by the medium line and 1.500 m wide at the entrance. The shore length is 106 km, and the sea surface 88 kmn. The Bay of Herceg Novi has the largest shore length – 45,235 km, followed by the Bay of Kotor 24,990 km, Bay of Tivat 22,495 km, while the shore of the Bay of Risan is the shortest, only 12,980 km. The border of the Bay of Boka Kotorska is represented by steep and high slopes of mountains Orjen, towards Krivosije, and Lovcen, towards Njegusi. At the entrance of the Bay of Boka Kotorska, there is a rocky island and fortress Mamula from 1850.

There are 7 islands in the Bay of Boka Kotorska, and the largest among them by surface is St. Marco (the old name: Stradioti), followed by the Island of Flowers, Mamula (Lastavica), St. George, Lady of Skrpjela, Milosrda (Otok), while the tiniest island is the Little Lady. The towns in the Bay are interconnected by road and maritime communications. They also make a part of the entire attractiveness of the Bay. The maritime communications are maintained through local and line navigation. The key role in the road communications has the Adriatic Highway, which frames the Bay linking the shore towns. The narrowest part of the Bay is the Strait of Verige, where the construction of a bridge is projected, but it has not been realised so far, so that in this part a ferry navigates between Lepetani and Kamenari, whereby the length of the Adriatic Highway is considerably cut down.

The mutual connection and unity of natural and anthropogenic motives make the Adriatic Sea the unique landscape entity, not only in the European Mediterranean, but also generally in the world. The warm sea, a pleasant climate, the Mediterranean vegetation, the specific animal world, the archaeology sites, small and big towns are the unique richness of our sea and Riviera.

Kotor

The old town of Kotor is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in this part of the Mediterranean. It was succeeded in preserving its original form, so typical of towns between the XII and the XIV century. The asymmetric structure of the narrow streets and squares, combined with the numerous valuable monuments of medieval architecture, contributed to Kotor being placed on UNESCO’s “The world natural and cultural inheritance” list. The cultural inheritance of this town is enriched by the unique architectural styles and the ambient atmosphere. The fortification system of Kotor, which protects it from the sea, is actually a wall 4.5 km long, 20 m high and 15 m wide, and is preserved as one of the world’s historic values.

The construction of the ramparts was initiated in the Illyrian age and they were built and rebuilt up to the XVIII century. The oldest town gate, of the three existing in the town, is the “South” gate which was partially constructed in the IX century. The “North” and the “Main” gates were build in the renaissance style by the first half of the XVI century. The most representative monument of Roman architecture in the Adriatic is the magnificent Cathedral of St. Tiphun, constructed in 1166 and built on the remains of the former temple from the IX century. There are the remains of the frescos from the XIV century and the valuable treasury with domestic and Venetian golden works dating from the XIV to the XX century. Besides the cathedral, in the hart of the town, there are magnificent examples of sacral architecture originating from XII till XX century.

- The Romanic church of St. Lucas was built during the reign of the great ruler Nemanja and his son Vukan in 1195.

- The Romanic church of St. Ana dates from the end of the XII century and has frescos dating back from the XV century.

- The Romanic church of St. Mary dates from 1221. The church contains the remains of a monumental fresco painting as well as an early Christian baptistry.

- The Gothic church of St. Mihovil was built on the remains of the Benediction monastery from the VII century with frescos dating back from XV century.

- St. Clara’s church dates from the XIV century with the extremely beautiful marble altar, the work of Francesco Cabianca, from the XVIII century.

- The Church of Lady of health originates from the XV century.

- The Orthodox Church of St. Nicolas was built by the beginning of the XX century with a valuable collection of icons.

There are also numerous palaces in the town: the Drago palace with Gothic windows from the XV century, the Bizanti palace from the XVII century, the Pima palace, with typical renaissance and baroque forms from the XVI century the Grubonja palace with the built-in emblem of the old Kotor’s pharmacy established in 1326; the Grgurina palace, from the XVII century, which today contains the Naval museum, and finally the Clock tower, from the XVI century, with the medieval pillory just beside it.

Perast

It is situated 12 km west from Kotor and represents the best preserved baroque area in the Adriatic. The town reached the highest point in it’s development in the 17th and 18th century along with the strengthening of it’s own navy. At that time the most beautiful buildings arose in this fortified town. The palaces of the famous naval captains from this area belong to the baroque style and they were built at the time of the navigation flourishing. The most famous of them are: The Bujovic from the year 1693, The Zmajevic, Badovica and Smekia.

The most prominent culture monuments are: The Church of St. George’s founded in the period from 15th -17th century. It has rich church treasure. The Parsons Church whose building started in the year 1740. by the project of the Venetians architect Gisele Beati. Only belfry and apse were built whereas the shape of the church as a whole is known thanks to well-preserved wooden schemes.The St. George’s church erased up in the islet in front of Perast. It belonged to the Benedictine moister built in the 12th century.The Lady of Skrpjel the baroque church built in the year 1630. in the artificial islet in front of Perast, in which there was the small chapel in 1452. It owns a rich museum, paintings collection of the famous Italian artist. The church has been decorated with 68 paintings by Tripo Kokolja a painter from Perast-the most famous name of our baroque painting art from the end of the 17th century.

Risan

The quiet town of Risan is situated on the most north point of Bokokotorski bay, between Herceg Novi and Kotor. Today, it is most famous for The Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Hospital and the nursing home. It is difficult to imagine that this place had a glorious past, as there are no visible traces of ancient civilizations. The central and older part of this small town is situated right next to the seaside. “Teuta” hotel and the port dominate the town landscape. The building of Risan’s hospital peeks out from the hinterland. It was edified at the beginning of the XX century in modernist style of architecture. Lush Mediterranean vegetation covers all the town. In addition, large areas on the hill to the west from the town are natural reservoirs of oleander.

Traces of various civilizations were found on the territory of Risan. In the nearby cave Lipca (located between Risan and Morinj; the way to it is marked) were found some really beautiful prehistoric cave drawings. Under the Illyrian Queen Teuta – the III century BC – Risan was a town-fortress (on the hill Gradine above today’s town). The famous Queen spent the last days of her life here taking shelter during the attack of Romans. According to the legend, unable to accept the fall of her kingdom Teuta jumped into the sea condemning Risan to be a town of a faded glory and creepy fatalism forever. The Romans who came to this town after Teuta’s death appreciated its position and made it a developed settlement through which two important roads were passing. At that time Risan probably had about 10 000 inhabitants (which is five times more than today). The insufficiently researched archeological site Carine, across the street from the hotel “Teuta”, will introduce you to the remains of an ancient Roman town, which was mostly devastated from the Barbarian attacks and sank into the sea during numerous terrible earthquakes. Remains of a Roman palace with famous Risan’s mosaics from the II century are well preserved, but not enough appreciated and protected.