Kotor, Montenegro

It's the eighth anniversary of Montenegro's independence today. After breakfast we cruised through the Baka Bay leading to the city of Kotor. It's like sailing a fjord, the bays stretch some twenty miles in length with 3000 foot mountains surrounding us. As we turn into the inner bays, on one of the islands is Our Lady of the Rocks church with it's blue roof and on the other is St. George's monastery. Kotor is surrounded by it's medieval walls 4.5 miles long and 280 meters up the side of the mountain with St. John's fortress on the top. As you see these walls, it is easy to understand why the Ottomans failed to conquer this land, the mountains are steep and the city is well-protected with its walls. 

 

Entering Baka Bay

We entered by the Sea Gate built in 1555, but also celebrating Tito's liberation of the city from the Nazi's on November 21st 1944. 1500 people reside within the city, in buildings that have been preserved through the centuries. The city consists of several squares interconnected by narrow lanes. We visited the 17th century clock tower on weapons square where the 19th century clock is still maintained by the original family. Next was flour square, where flour was once sold. Further along was St. Tryphon Catholic church with its two towers. The two towers have been restored numerous times after various earthquakes. The earthquake of 1667 destroyed 75% of all the buildings in the town. The maritime museum was our primary stop. Here they have a superb collection of 18th century swords and ornamental pistols and rifles originally crafted in weapons square. Of particular interest was a woman's weapon that from outside appearances was a fan, but hid 5 blades within it. After our tour, many of the group climbed the walls up to the Lady of Health church. The church name came not from the healthy hike it took to get here, but from the fact that down below the black plague was in the city and the air was considered healthier here.

 

 



I continued up the thousand steps to the fortress. The views and the spring flowers were both fantastic. It was a rush to reach the top since lunch was in an hour.

The view of Baka Bay from the fortress

After lunch we took a stroll through the city visiting the shops and stopping for the local beer, Nik, considered to be the best beer in the former Yugoslavia. In the evening, we had a first - a wedding on the ship. Les & Alta were married on the top deck. The captain was obviously nervous, he was performing his first wedding and it was in English. But he had obviously studied well, because it came off very nicely.

Petra, Alta, the Captain, Les, and Antun