Kotor, Montenegro
- Julie-Anne Justus
- 5 hours ago
- 7 min read
From the boot of Italy we've sailed east across the Adriatic Sea, ignored Albania and docked in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro.
I've never been to the Balkans before. Much of my knowledge of this part of the world comes from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, when the Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia broke up into six republics: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia.
We've sailed into some beautiful places on our various cruises, but the Bay of Kotor is simply breathtaking. It's one of the 7 most beautiful bays in world (there's a list, apparently) and (yes) a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The local name is Boka Kotorska, boka meaning 'mouth', so mouth of Kotor. There are four little bays in Boka.
The Bay of Kotor resembles a fjord, and brings back memories of Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound in NZ. But our local guide Jana told us that it's not a fjord. It's the result of tectonic shifts of land moving after prehistoric earthquakes. (More earthquakes!)
Little Montenegro* (literally, 'black mountain' after its heavily forested hills) has a total population of around 650,000. Montenegro is a very small country, about 13,000 sq km. It's about the same size as Kuwait, or half the size of Israel. 80% of the country is mountainous, as you can see from the photos.
We set off for one of the mountains surrounding the bay.
While the scenery is awe-inspiring, we're travelling in a coach up a single-lane mountain road with 25 switchbacks. Literally! They're numbered! When a vehicle meets another vehicle coming the other way, one of the vehicles has to reverse so that the other can squeeze past. According to Jana, bus drivers would rather meet another coach — i.e. another professional driver — than a tourist in a smaller car who's new to the area.
If you watched the video, you might have caught a bit of Jana's joke about the priest. I'll tell you the whole story.
The priest and the Kotor bus driver arrive at the Pearly Gates together. St Peter (or whoever the gatekeeper is) sends the priest to Hell, the driver to Heaven.
'But why?' asks the priest. 'I have dedicated my whole life to God.'
'Well,' says St Peter, 'you spent every Sunday preaching to people in your church and they fell asleep. The bus driver drove people up these mountains and they spent every second praying!'
I am not kidding when I tell you that our bus driver's name was Deo.
As we go higher, we can see a second bay that's covered with cloud. This is the Bay of Tivat, connected to the Bay of Kotor, and you can see it clearly on the map.
In this photo below, we're looking directly at Tivat. Do you see the road switchback in the shape of a M? A road engineer designed this to woo a local girl called Melina (or so they say). M for Milena. He was unsuccessful with his suit but the road has become a local legend.
Porto Montenegro. a five-star resort and yacht marina, was recently developed in Tivat Bay. Peter Munk, a Canadian gold billionaire, transformed the former Soviet-era naval base into a centre for nautical tourism i.e. yachts and megayachts owned by the megawealthy. Not everyone likes it, as you'd expect. Porto Montenegro is hidden under the cloud. It was the first time I heard the term 'nautical tourism' but it wasn't the last. This whole coastline attracts lots of very upmarket yachts.
We're at the top of the mountain after an exciting drive, at the Nevjesta Jadrana restaurant almost 1000 m above Boka Bay.
It's time for our welcome snack: local prosciutto, local cheese, local bread, local wine. This was our first experience with the cheerful Balkan habit of drinking wine at 9 o'clock in the morning. Or beer, or both, as Ken decided to do.
Vranac is the grape variety that originates from Montenegro, and is the most planted grape variety in Montenegro. Jana told us that Vranac produces black wine. My friend from Serbia recommended we try the local wine called Vranac Procorde. I'm not sure if he meant at 9 am, but I asked a young staff member if he had it. These photos are for you, G.
Beyond the mountains are the small alpine towns where people have farmed for centuries. This particular village, Njeguši, specialises in Njeguški pršut, a Balkan prosciutto smoked with beech wood; the prosciutto produced here is world renowned. It produces 500,000 portions per year but this is only enough to satisfy local demand. I always thought of Germany and Italy as smallgoods stars, but I suspect it's been the Balkan states all along. If you like your charcuterie, this is the region for you.
Ken snapped a photo of men loading some prosciutto legs. It's not very clear (this is a better photo) but I'll include Ken's here.
Although the climate is quite mild, there is a ski resort on Lovćen, the tallest mountain in Montenegro. You can see the remnants of snow on the peak.
We continue along the road to a town called Cetinje, which was the Montenegrin capital from the 1400s to the end of WW2. While Podgorica is the modern capital and largest city, Cetinje is still considered the old royal capital and cultural centre. The plum and cherry trees were in blossom and eveything was bright green.
On the subject of plums, Montenegrins distil a potent spirit from fruit called rakia, like grappa or slivovitz. Jana told us that Montenegrins wanted to sell their rakia to the Turks. However, alcohol is prohibited in Islam. So the Montenegrins sold it as medicine.
Rakia is considered a folk tonic. (At 50% proof!) Add a few sage leaves and some honey, and it's particularly healthy. 'My grandmother is very old and forgets everything,' said Jana, 'except to take her medicine.'
Cetinje is also a spiritual centre. This Serbian Orthodox monastery is still active; there are 19 monks who live here. This monastery is the location of several relics including the remains of St Peter of Cetinje, the right hand of John the Baptist and particles of the True Cross. I'd have liked to see them but I think they're too sacred for tourist stickybeaks.
We toured the Museum of King Nicholas 1, housed in what was once his palace. It's an interesting collection of furniture, clothes, weapons and art, but no photos are permitted inside. This king fought the Turks in 1870s and established Montenegro as an independent state. He also had 12 children, most of whom were married off to various European royal families. Montenegro was very skilled at this sort of diplomacy!
The large circular building is the Cetinje soccer stadium. Football is the most popular sport but water polo is the national sport of Montenegro, with the men's national team among the world's best. Apparently Montenegrins are the second tallest people in the world, after the Dutch. And yes, they did seem generally tall.
The original inhabitants of this area were the Ilyrians, ancient metalworkers, whose descendants were the Dalmatians. (This is the start of the Dalmatian Coast and I am determined to spot at least one Dalmatian dog on our trip. Ha ha.) Trade in salt was an important source of income.
The Budva Riviera is a very popular, very trendy holiday destination. An earthquake in 1979 (no words) revealed an old Ilyrian city from 500 BC that included some Ancient Roman artefacts. Today Budva's population is 25,000 people but in high season, it climbs to 150,000.
Like most Balkan states, Montenegro's been buffeted by the swings and roundabouts of Mediterranean power for hundreds of years — it's been controlled by the Greeks, Romans, Slavs and the Byzantine Empire. Under threat by the Ottomans in the 1400s, Montenegro voluntarily took protection under the Republic of Venice. Napoleon upset that arrangement; when he fell, the Austro-Hungarian empire stepped in. After WW1 the victorious Serbs entered Montenegro and in 1929 Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Montenegro was unscathed (physically) during the Yugoslav War in the 1990s.
Our guide Jana told us that Montenegro is still very Venetian. The local dialect shares much with Venetian Italian, Venetian architecture abounds, Montenegro celebrates the same carnivals as the Venetians, and Montenegrins have the same attitude to life: dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing. It's an unhurried, coffee-sipping culture; finding joy in relaxing and being present.
Back to the ancient walled city of Kotor, where our ship docked. Kotor is a fortified town and has been a (yes) UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The walls are 9.1km — the longest and most preserved walls in Europe. The walls climb in a idiosyncratic way up the mountain.
You can see the walls around the city itself.
Inside the city is a warren of narrow alleys, squares and churches. Today many of the old houses are shops and restaurants. We loved it.
Kotor (and all these towns along the coast) are big seafood centres. Fish and meat. Here are some sample menus. Plenty of gelato too. Did you notice the gelato stand in one of the squares?
The menus are written in both Latin and Cyrillic script, which are both official scripts in Montenegro so must always be presented together. But it wasn't the scripts, or fish, or meat, that caught my eye. It was this amazing creation — krempita. I like a good vanilla slice, and this was next level.
Pause for awed deliciousness.
It wouldn't be a tourist day if we didn't visit a church. The Cathedral of St Tryphon was built in 1166 and is older than many more famous churches in Europe, such as Notre Dame. Frescoes inside date from the 1300s. The icons reminded me of some of the very old church art we saw in Greece.
Modern-day Montenegro is now independent and a member of NATO, and despite a decade or so of (an apparently) corrupt president, the new government is pro-EU. Following a post-war financial collapse in 1993, Montenegro adopted the German deutschmark as its currency. When Germany became a member of the EU, Montenegro adopted the euro. It hopes to be part of the EU by 2028.
Montenegro is doing quite well on the economic front. 40% of GDP comes from tourists; it has around 2.5 million tourists every year. And given all that nautical tourism, a lot of the tourism would be high value. Little Montenegro also produces steel, aluminium and bauxite from mines. It exports wine, beer, olive oil and water. It also offers mud therapies to Scandinavian tourists ...
And before we sail out of the this glorious bay, I'll leave you with some wisdom from Jana's grandfather about wine and olives.
An olive tree is like your mother. It can be neglected for twenty years — then, with a bit of care, will still bear fruit. But a vineyard is like your wife. It needs constant attention and love.
Next stop: Dubrovnik, Croatia
*The source of the line 'little Montenegro' bothered me for hours when we arrived here. I kept seeing it in my mind. Eventually I remembered it from The Great Gatsby, when Gatsby has died and his father finds his medals from WW1. One of them was from 'little Montenegro'. I'll find the exact reference when I get home.
This really looks better on a bigger screen. www.julie-anne.online
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