Day trip to Montenegro

While traveling in Europe during the summer of 2019, I rented a car in Vienna and drove to Slovenia and into Croatia.  My original plan for the three weeks that I had the car, was to drive into Montenegro and Bosnia on my route back to Austria to return the car, after having visited the other countries.  However, upon getting the car I found out that I was not allowed to leave the EU.  This was very disappointing to me as I was very excited to see Montenegro, especially after having talked to some friends at church who raved about how lovely it was.  So imagine my excitement that while in Dubrovnik I found a tour company that was taking day trips into Montenegro for $40!  After having spent a day in Dubrovnik (read about that day where I explored Dubrovnik and learned all about the filming of Game of Thrones that took place there HERE) I woke up early, said goodbye to my friends Dan and Irina who were heading back to Vienna that day, and walked to the hotel where the coach into Montenegro was going to be picking me up.

    

Once we are on the bus it took around a half an hour until we reached the Montenegro- Croatia border. Then, we had to give our passports and wait about 40 minutes for the inspectors to go through all of our passports and deem that we were safe to cross the border. Our tour guide had warned us that sometimes it takes quite a long time coming and going through the border crossing so he was pleasantly surprised by how quickly we got through.

From there it was about an hour bus ride until we came to the area of Perast. We got off the bus and waited a few minutes until we were picked up by a boat for a short five minute ride to an island located in the Bay of Boka.

Our Lady of the Rocks is an artificial, bulwark island built around a legend that says that two fisherman brothers in 1452 came back from fishing trip and saw a light on a ridge, which they followed and there found an icon of Mary. They took it to a church but it disappeared that evening and was found the next day back where they had originally saw it. They made an oath to the Madonna and after every fishing trip they would lay a rock in the bay. Other people started doing this also and eventually the island was created. Still today when ships sail from Perast a sailor will throw a rock at the ridge to ask the mother of God for a safe trip.

        

We got dropped off at the island and had 45 minutes to explore during which time I decided to enter the church for two euros. Unfortunately it was so busy with tourists that I was not able to climb to the top of the church, built in 1722, but I did enjoy my look around the ground. I loved the painted ceilings and the collection of silver votive lighting fixtures.  Inside the church there is also a tapestry made by a sailors wife. While she waited for her love to return she started making the tapestry and included her hair into her sewing. After 25 years of waiting she finished, though she went blind in the process.

      

Next to Our Lady of the Rocks is the island of Saint George, which has a monastery that’s been there since the 12th century, though visitors are not allowed to visit.  As you can see from the picture it is very beautiful.

After visiting Our Lady of the Rocks and passing by the island of Saint George a boat took us back to the town of Perast. This town looks so charming from afar and was even more gorgeous in person. The town began in 1336 when it was just a small fishing village. The town was very prosperous while under Venetian control and during that time 17 palaces were built as well as 16 churches, the most impressive being the St. Nikola church pictured below.  Though today the population is under 300 all those those churches and palazzi are still in the town.  

We were dropped off by the boat and told that we had 40 minutes to walk our meeting point down the street, where the bus was waiting for us. There’s only one main road bordering the Adriatic Sea that runs through Perast, so it was easy to not get lost, and it was such an adorable town.  I stopped to get coffee at a place bearing a sign offering coffee to go, only to realize that it was someone’s house, and I was served by a man and woman still in their jammies who made me some coffee from their kitchen- but it was delicious!

      

Our next destination was the town of Kotor, a fortified town and seaport. Though Kotor is over 2000 years old, with its fortress being built before the 6th century, it has had a very tumultuous past. It was under Venetian rule from 1420 until 1797, and Kotor suffered periodic damage because of assaults from the Turks and from several earthquakes. Between 1807 and 1814 it was occupied by France which was followed by an Austrian occupation through 1918.  After their defeat in WWI the Austrians left, though during World War II Kotor was occupied by the Axis forces, as part of Italy’s Governate, and German troops took over the city in September 1943 until it was liberated on November 21, 1944, a date commemorated over the Sea Gate (pictured below).  Montenegro was also a part of Yugoslavia and finally got its independence from Serbia in 2006.

      

Kotor definitely has some similarities to Venice (minus the canals) with the narrow winding cobblestone streets, regal churches and Renaissance style buildings- all these  showing the Venetian influence from when they occupied Kotor. Once passing through the Sea Gate (dating from the 16th century) you immediately see the Clock Tower. The stone 17th century Clock Tower (which is a little crooked, à la Leaning Tower of Pisa) has two clock faces, one running slightly behind the other, and in front of the Clock Tower is the triangular “Pillar of Shame” that was used for public humiliation of criminals.

This medieval town, with a population of less than 15,000, is filled with winding streets that you could just get lost wandering around in (and during my few hours there I did just that, along with my new friend Elizabeth that I met during on the tour). Kotor has very many amazingly stunning buildings, the largest and most beautiful of which is Saint Tryphon Cathedral, built in 1166.

               

Kotor is the oldest town in Montenegro and is a state protected historical monument.  Though it was seriously damaged in 1979 by an earthquake, that was the same year it was designated a UNESCO world heritage site.

        

Though we had limited time in Kotor, the fortress walls were calling to me.  At over 1,350 steps and 3.1 miles above the old town, the fortress walls stretch upwards and double back on themselves several times, snaking up until you reach the fortress.

Visitors can walk up the walls towards the medieval fortress, located 3,937 feet on top of the coast, for about 8 dollars.  You definitely want some comfortable walking shoes because the stones are uneven and slippery (I was not dressed for this hike but I did my best) and you want some water, because there is NO SHADE during this hike, and it was over 90 degrees that day.

       

We walked about 40 minutes up until we arrived at the chapel of St. John, admiring the fjord below from our walk as well as the view of the town with its orange rooftops.

We walked along the fortifications until we reached the church, but then made the decision to walk back down to Kotor to wander around the town some more, and grab some much-needed lunch.

    

We made a stop into St. Luke’s church in the center of town. It was constructed in 1195 as a Catholic church, but from 1657 through 1812 Catholic and Orthodox altars stood side-by-side inside this church, each taking turns to have a service inside, though now it is strictly an Orthodox church. There are 12 century frescoes inside, and two iconostases (screens with saints painted on them).

           

After spending a few hours in Kotor we reconvened with the group to get back on the bus to head back to Dubrovnik. But first we had lots of more views of the gorgeous country to Montenegro, including a ferry ride.  This day-trip in Montenegro definitely left me wanting more, and I will be back to explore more (hopefully by car next time).