Kotor city

In the last post we discovered the amazing Bay of Kotor. Those of you who have looked at the link to the UNESCO website recognised, that the site covers the whole region, including the city of Kotor. So it is time to discover the place that gave the bay its name. Let's leave our boat in the marina and move along.

The Old Town of Kotor is guarded by a solid wall.



The location of Kotor is very safe, with the sea in front and a mountain behind. Very feng shui.

Though to be honest, the pragmatic architects of Kotor made sure that the wall climbs up the hill as well.

I propose that we enter by one of the gates on the right. There are two reasons why I chose it. First it has a very cute guardian with long red hair.

And second, amoung the flags you can quickly spot the UNESCO emblem.

As we pass the moat, you can notice the barred window that allowed defenders to take a close look at whoever would like to approach the town from the sea.

If you want to find out more about the maritime heritage of Kotor, I strongly encourage you to visit the Maritime Museum.

Kotor was a Venetian city and then it belonged to the Empire of Austria and Hungary. As we walk through it, you can feel a certain mixture of styles. The palace of the Prima family was build in the seventeenth century and looks quite Italian.

The Town Hall which used to be the Austrohungarian general staff house was built in the nineteenth century.

Next to the Town Hall you will notice the cathedral of Kotor, devoted to Saint Tryphon (do not worry, I have never heard of him before either). It was built in the twelfth century, when Byzantium was still powerful.

Inside, the cathedral is pretty modest.

Look up to those little windows. They bring light but they do not go to the external world, they link the church to an internal gallery that runs on the upper floor and which houses the museum of the cathedral.

You can admire there some religious artefacts as well as paintings.

To reach the gallery you need to use the staircase, made entirely from Italian marble.

On the picture showing the facade of the cathedral you might have noticed that between the towers there is a balcony. It looks a lot like the one in the cathedral of Saint Marc in Venice which we have visited last year. And like with the other, you can admire there the market square from bird eye perspective.

As you may have guessed, the cathedral is not the only church in town. Because of the mixed cultural background of the inhabitants, there has to be also an orthodox church. Or better two. The large Saint Nicolas church ...

... and just next to it a smaller one, dedicated to Saint Luke.

The streets of Kotor are narrow and shadowy so it is not easy to take good pictures. So I strongly encourage you to take a look at one of the many panoramic pictures available on a special website. Alternatively, we may also try to look at the city from the top by climbing up to the Fortress of Saint John. Ready? Then take a short break and we will climb up next week.