Kotor is a coastal town that is secluded in the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. Montenegro is bordered by Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Croatia and the Adriatic Sea. The old Mediterrean port of Kotor was built with fortifications during the Venetian period. The old Walled City of Kotor is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Waking up to this port was almost as breathtaking as Malta but in a different way. There is a narrow passageway into the bay and once there, there are towering mountains and a walled stairway to the top of the mountain. The view at the top is the reward for all that walking. We were told it has over 1,000 steps. No thank you. We hired “Rocky” a taxi driver to take us up to the top where we could get the view and not need oxygen.
Next we set off for the little town of Perast. Perast is an old town in the Bay of Kotor and is known for its proximity to the isle of St. George and Our Lady of the Rocks. The story behind the Lady of the Rocks is that it is an artificial island created by shipwrecks and people throwing rocks onto the sunken ships. You take a little ferry out to the island. You can only step foot on the artificial island, the other one is a cemetery and tourists are not allowed on it.
Back on Perast we walked along the Promenade. We saw a cute black dog, (which always makes us miss Thelma and Louise) a church, 3 busts of 3 guys (more on that) and a sign for Perast cake that our Taxi driver said “Don’t get it, it’s no good”.
Tripo was born in Perast and is believed to have studied art in Venice. He painted a series of canvases for the church of Our Lady of the Rocks.
Matija was also born in Perast. His uncle was Andrija Zmajevic, who was an archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Their family was at odds with another family from Perast and when Duke Vicko Bujovic was killed Matija left Perast as he was accused of being involved in his death. He found refuge with the ambassador Peter Tolstoy and Tolstoy sent a letter of recommendation of Matija to Peter I.
Marho was a renowned nautical expert with a gift for mathematics, drawing, and shipbuilding. He opened the first nautical school of the Boka Koroska in Perast.
So there you have it. We often take pictures of busts in towns and never have a clue who these people are!!
On our drive back into Kotor we took a picture of our ship. Just beautiful. Our next stop was the Walled Old Town of Kotor.
We stopped at a Restaurant and ordered an expensive wine, this being our last port and all. It was very good. We had Montenegrin Minestrone and a plate of meat for two. What a fabulous lunch.
We walked off our lunch around the town and saw the two towers. One that had been established in 1166 and the other in 2016.
This was the last port of our Adriatic and Ionian Cruise of 2022. I will be making one more post entitled “Sea Days and Food Porn”. Stay tuned.
