Montenegro
Montenegro is a small Balkan country on the Adriatic Sea. The capital is Podgorica. It has rugged mountains, medieval villages, canyons, beaches and glacial lakes.
We docked in the Bay of Kotor. It is much like a fjord. The ship had to go through a narrow opening to enter the bay. It is a very protected city.
Here we are in sailing into the bay. It was a very pretty sight.
Here you see the Skurda River, the city walls, the fortress walls going up the mountain to the church of Saint Nicholas and Saint John's Castle.
Once again, as we enter the old city we see sights similar to Venice. The town square was fairly large and the buildings are very old. On the left is the Pillory or post of shame where people who had committed crimes were chained or tied as a form of public humiliation. It is the same idea as stocks. Usually a board with their crime written on it would be hung around their neck. In the center we see the Palace of a wealthy family from the 17th century, The Pima Family. On the right more narrow streets.
It was a short walk to Saint Tryphon's Cathedral which was built in 1166 and houses a treasury of frescoes and Venetian jewelry from the 14th to 20th centuries. Saint Tryphon was taken to Nicaea in 250 AD where he was beheaded by the Romans. There is a crypt that we were told holds some of his bones. Anyone know what stairs around the pillar leading to a box for one person is called? There is a large gold and silver relief of saints behind the main altar.
Built in 1195, the Church of Saint Lukas, stands in Lukas square. This is the only church that was not destroyed in the earthquake of 1667. All others are at least partially rebuilt. The dead were buried under the church until the 1830s and the floor consists of tombstones visible on the right.
We visited the Maritime Museum on Montenegro.
The Museum tells the history of Kotor as a naval power and the successes of some of its famous seamen who traveled the world and brought back treasures. In 1698 Peter the Great sent his naval cadets to Perast to learn sailing skills. The museum houses weapons, clothing, models of ships, sculptures, furniture and many other items.
We moved on to Perast driving around the Bay of Kotor. It was a pretty drive. We saw l lobster and fish farms in the bay.
We walked through a little of Perast on our way to the dock where we took a boat out to Our Lady of the Rock passing by another island that is a monastery.
Our Lady of the Rock is a man-made island. It has an interesting history. It was built on a small artificial island, which was built by fishermen from Perast. According to legend these fishermen after their ship wrecked found on a sea rock an icon of Madonna and Child.
They vowed to build a church on that rock and dedicate it to Mary, protector of sailors and fishermen. After every successful voyage they added more rocks. They started sailing out to the rock and dumping rocks and sinking ships filled with rocks into the sea. They did this for four hundred years until the island was large enough to build a church. They still dump rocks to this day in a festival on July 22. The first known church was built in 1452 but it was destroyed and the current church was built in 1630. It was expanded in 1722. Fishermen and sailors still continue to bring gifts to the island in gratitude of the protection of the Holy Mother of God. There are paintings, silver, tapestries and other items.
One is an impressive embroidery made by a woman waiting for her husband to return from a sailing voyage. She did the needlework over a period of about 30 years using silk threads and her own hair, changing from dark brown to gray and then white. Eventually she went blind and died without ever seeing her husband again.
Looking back across the bay to Perast.
We returned to Perast and boarded the bus. After a short drive the bus drove onto a ferry boat which was a short cut to the city of Budva.
First thing on the agenda was bathroom break and lunch.
Budva has an old walled city like so many other places we have seen.
However, it is also a very modern city with high rise office buildings and apartments. We saw the one pictured under construction.
Montenegro is beautiful! We enjoyed our short visit.
Some Facts about Montenegro
Montenegro means Black Mountain
Gained independence in May 2006
The James Bond film Casino Royale was partially filmed there
It is a retreat for the rich and famous, Hollywood stars and royal families
It has Europe's deepest canyon, Tara Canyon, which in places rivals the Grand Canyon
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