Montenegro is a Balkan country with rugged mountains, medieval villages and a narrow strip of beaches along its Adriatic coastline. The Bay of Kotor, resembling a fjord, is dotted with coastal churches and fortified towns such as Kotor and Herceg Novi. Durmitor National Park, home to bears and wolves, encompasses limestone peaks, glacial lakes and 1,300m-deep Tara River Canyon.
The chance to enjoy everything Montenegro has to offer in a country that’s smaller than Wales makes a vacation here all the more appealing. Savvy travelers will want to add all the best places to visit in Montenegro to their list of must-see destinations before the rest of the world discovers the country’s many charms.
Perast is one of the most beautiful little places in Boka Bay, located just a few kilometres from Kotor. It looks like a piece of Venice that has floated down the Adriatic. This tiny town boasts 16 churches and 17 formerly grand palazzos. Perast’s most famous landmarks are actually right in the middle of the waters- two picturesque islands with quite the story behind them – Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Skrpjela) and Island of Saint George.
Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Skrpjela) sits on a man-made island. The story begins on July 22, 1452: two sailors, returning to Perast from a difficult voyage, discovered an icon of the Madonna and Child resting on a rock in a shallow part of the Bay. Considering the find a miracle, they vowed to build a church on the spot. The sailors dropped stones around the spot where the icon was found, slowly creating an islet and building a small chapel. It soon became a tradition for sailors to drop stones in the water around the chapel before a voyage, to contribute to the strength of its foundations and to ask the Virgin Mother to bring them safely home. The tradition of dropping stones at the site remains alive today and forms an integral part of one of Europe’s oldest sailing regattas: the Fasinada. At sunset on July 22, countless local boats are decorated with garlands and sail out into the Bay to drop a stone around the island.
Island of Saint George is other islet off the coast of Perast in Bay of Kotor. Unlike Our Lady of the Rocks, it is a natural island. The island contains Saint George Benedictine monastery from the 12th century and the old graveyard for the old nobility from Perast and further from the whole Bay of Kotor.
Many small restarurants on the Perast coast will offer you great fish specialties. Often called as the quietest town in the Bay, Perast is definitely something special. And as an UNESCO World heritage site, it is a must-visit!
Their doors are open for all the people of good will.
Founded in the 15th century, Cetinje is best known for the many European embassies built when the city served as Montenegro’s capital. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the town’s inland valley location at the edge of Ottoman Empire made it a strategic spot for diplomacy. Today, the elegant mansions constructed in the Continental architectural style have been converted into to museums, academies and administrative buildings. Other interesting sights include the 15th century Vlah Church with its fence made from Ottoman rifles and the Cetinje Monastery with its collection of Early Christian Era relics.
Situated high up in the large rock of Ostroska Greda, the Ostrog Monastery is the country’s most unusual architectural site and a major Christian pilgrimage destination. The entire monastery was carved out of a cave in a nearly vertical mountain cliff with only the whitewashed façade left visible. Built in the 17th century as a refuge against the Ottoman Empire, it houses the remains of its founder, Sveti Vasilje, who was sainted after his death in 1671. The monastery includes two inner cave churches ornamented by frescoes, some of which were painted directly on the rock walls.
The main Montenegro attraction is Kotor:
The old town – that is the most famous part of Kotor, where the Kotor history, culture, and tradition are being preserved. The old town of Kotor has a great number of monuments of the medieval architecture: churches, cathedrals, palaces, and museums. Its beauty is complemented with the multitude of narrow streets, squares, and markets. The old town of Kotor stands out also by the great number of stylishly made gates, palaces of the wealthy families, and a great number of stairs. The old nucleus of Kotor today is considered to be the best preserved medieval urban entity in the Mediterranean. The largest and the most impressive are, by all means, city bulwarks which surround the town. They are about 5 km long, 20, high, and about 10 m wide. Bring completely preserved, they are an unique sample of the fortification architecture in Europe. The beginning of their construction started in the IX century, in order for them to be added onto and arranged for the next 10 centuries. Bulwarks have 3 doors, through which for centuries people have came in and out of the town. From whichever door that you go into the town, the road will bring you to the most famous edifice – cathedral Sveti Tripun from the XII century, which is dedicated to the protector of the town – Sveti Tripun.
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