Kotor Montenegro, a UNESCO-listed World Natural and Historical Heritage Site, is a picturesque and well-preserved coastal town, in a secluded channel of a Montenegro bay.
Since cars are not allowed within Kotor’s Old Town, you can wander through the narrow maze of streets with cobblestones, packed with souvenir shops and traditional cafes, and climb 1,350 steep steps to view the town’s ancient fortifications, mountains, breathtaking turquoise bay, coastal towns, and buildings that date back to the medieval times.
If you are adventurous enough, try paragliding from atop the surrounding cliffs. Kotor Cathedral is one of the highlights.
Perched high above the picturesque town, the Fortress of St. Ivan, also known as the Fortress of St. John or San Giovanni, is a reminder of the region’s rich and tumultuous history. This imposing structure offers not only a glimpse into the past but also breathtaking views of the bay.
The origins of the Fortress of St. Ivan date back to the Byzantine Empire, around the 6th century, when Emperor Justinian I ordered its construction1. Over the centuries, the fortress has seen numerous reconstructions and expansions, particularly under Venetian rule from the 15th to the 17th centuries1. The Venetians fortified the structure to protect Kotor from Ottoman invasions, making it a crucial defensive stronghold.
Architectural Features
The fortress is an impressive example of medieval military architecture. Its walls stretch for over 4.5 kilometers, encompassing the old town of the city and climbing steeply up the hillside to a height of 280 meters. The structure includes ramparts, bastions, towers, and gates, all designed to withstand sieges and attacks. The climb to the top involves ascending approximately 1,350 steps, a journey that rewards visitors with panoramic views of the bay and surrounding mountains.
The Fortress of St. Ivan is not just a historical monument but also a cultural symbol of the city. It has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, part of the “Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor”. This designation highlights its importance in the cultural and historical landscape of Montenegro. The fortress attracts thousands of tourists each year, drawn by its historical significance and the stunning vistas it offers.
The Romanesque Cathedral of Saint Tryphon (Kotor Cathedral) is from 1166 and was built in the place of a small Romanesque church from the 9th century. It’s a three-nave Basilica, restored several times. This happened especially after the 1667 earthquake destroyed the bell towers and a part of the facade. After the earthquake, new bell towers in the Baroque style appeared.
The rose windows on the facade are those which attract special attention. Once they were Romanesque but today they are with Gothic-Renaissance motives.
Inside Kotor Cathedral
Kotor Cathedral has in its possession a rich collection of art paintings. It preserves the works of Marin Lovra Dobricevic, Tripo Kokolj, Paolo Veroveza, Hieronim Santa Croce, and other great artists. The church has a rich collection of gold and silver relics, the works of local masters from the period from the 14th to the 18th centuries. The interior of the Cathedral has frescoes done by Greek masters.
The most important part of the interior decoration of Kotor Cathedral is the Romanesque-Gothic ciborium from the 14th century above the main altar. On the wall of the apse, there is the Golden Altarpiece with figures of Christ, the Virgin, St. John the Baptist and St. Tryphon, and sixteen other saints. It’s the masterpiece of Kotor goldsmiths’ work of the first half of the 15th century.
| Address | Trg Sv. Tripuna, Stari grad |
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The church of Sveti Luka (St. Luke) in Kotor on the square Piazza Greca has the traits of both Roman and Byzantine architecture. This church is the only edifice in town, which has not suffered significant damages during the earthquake in 1979.
Double altars
Daskal Dimitrij the founder of Boka Kotorska painting school Rafailovic did the iconostasis of the church from the 17th century. This used to be a Catholic school until the middle of the 17th century, but later because of the wars and the arrival of the Orthodox people in Kotor it went to Orthodox believers for use and it represents a testimony to the harmonious co-existence of Catholic and Orthodox people.
The church today is significant because it has two altars, a Catholic and an Orthodox one. The floor in the church is of tomb panels on joined graves of citizens of Kotor, because until the 1930’s the burying happened in the church itself.
| Address | Trg Sv. Luke, Stari grad, Kotor |
We can talk about St. Anna’s church only based on the characteristics of its architecture since the historical data dealing with the church’s earliest history are unknown. According to the characteristics of its style, St. Anna’s church seems to be from the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th century. The church is a single-nave building with a dome.
Inside St. Anna’s Church
Pillars and transverse arches of the vault on three transcripts dismember its interior. Over the middle transept, there’s a dome conceived with regards to the domes of other single nave Romanic churches in Kotor with which St. Anna’s church links according to the solutions of the western facade, the frieze of blind arcades on the facade, applied decorative system and so on. On the northern side, the church obtained a side chapel, elongated towards the west during a later reconstruction of the church after one of the 16th or 17th-century earthquakes.
Reconstructions
The western facade of the chapel is of stone from a Gothic style. During reconstructions of the church in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, St. Anna’s church lost much of its original looks. After one of the earthquakes, it lost its dome. The biggest changes in its looks occurred during the middle of the last century, including the removal of both apsis and the raising of the walls. The facade got new wide openings. The interior has a Baroque look and the building has a two-sided roof.
During the last decade, the church underwent complex and extensive works to explore its architecture, consolidation of declining walls and vaults, reconstruction of the original shapes, and presentation of the total of its monumental values. In the course of these works the remains of fresco paintings were discovered and preserved in the northern chapel, inside the church as well as on the western facade of St. Anna’s church.
The dome was restored to the extent that enabled the data obtained during the research. For the outside shape of the drum, it was not possible to find any data thus, modern material show the difference from the original parts. The apsis on the eastern side were reconstructed, as well as the original looks of the portal. St. Anna’s church has its cult function again.
The Church of St. Mary is in the Old Town of Kotor from the Northern side next to the Sea Gate. St. Mary is the most popular sightseeing of Old Kotor built in the 13th century on the site of the Cathedral church. The church honors St. Mary, but since St. Ozana’s relics are in the church as well, it has a double name. The history of St. Mary’s started in the first quarter of the 13th century.
The church’s premises are in a holy place, seeing that an early Christian basilica of the 6th century used to be here. Baptistery and some fragments of church furniture were found near an ancient basilica’s base.
Today these findings are visible in the sacristy on five feet below the existing bottom level. The facade of the church is of interleaved horizontal rows of pink and grey stone, while stone tiles cover the gabled roof and dome.
A notable detail of the exterior is the original molded doors with 24 hammered images depicting scenes of life in Old Kotor. Greek artists made the frescoes of the temple in the 14th century, but just fragments were kept in the apsis and Southern wall.
Situated on a hill that overlooks the Old Town, the Church of Our Lady Health provides visitors with beautiful views of the town and the water beyond. The church dates back to the 15th century. It stands halfway up St. John’s Hill.
Following numerous plague epidemics, the church became a votive church dedicated to prayer.
The Prince’s Palace in Kotor is from the 18th century and belongs to the most valuable monuments of Renaissance architecture. This building does not stand out with any frills in the architectural solution. The construction doesn’t bright Baroque features, except for curly brackets that support the long balcony.
At first time, the palace functioned as a house for the Venetian governor. In 1788 the palace turned into a military barracks and military warehouses.
The shape of the building is strongly stretched, it has a length of 60 m and a width of 6 m. This feature of the architecture made it very vulnerable to all earthquakes. In 1979, during an earthquake, the Prince’s Palace was almost completely destroyed, its debris capturing and other neighboring buildings.
The construction is gradually restored, and today the palace is completely restored thanks to the owners of small shops on the ground floor of the palace.
Napoleon’s theater is from the 18th century. In 1810 the French occupying authorities reconstructed this building to establish a regular theater, one of the first in this country. To turn it into the theater, they had to break down the northern facade.
This building was considerably damaged in the 1979 earthquake when its southern facade was almost destroyed. Academic sculptors and builders from Macedonia restored the facade in all details. The interior of the object was entirely adapted for an exclusive restaurant and entertainment object.