Medieval Kotor: The Most Charming Town in Montenegro
Surrounded by grandiose walls, and intertwined with old cobbled streets, which tourists love to wander, medieval Kotor is a favorite port of large cruise ships and tourists from all over the world.
The beautiful town of Kotor, overlooking the Bay of Kotor, one of the most gorgeous bays in the world, is the best-preserved urban medieval settlement, founded in the 12th century. It features impressive architecture, numerous monuments, and a rich cultural heritage, which is why Kotor was included in the UNESCO list of “World Natural and Cultural Heritage” in 1979. Surrounded by the beautiful Adriatic Sea and the high mountain peaks of Lovćen, it is considered the most charming town in Montenegro.
If your road takes you to Kotor one day, here’s why this picturesque place should be on your travel map of must-see destinations.
Beautiful nature and picturesque environment
The surrounding of Kotor is known for its richness of biodiversity and stunning landscapes of unsurpassed beauty that represent the wonder of nature rarely seen in the world. Beautiful environment of Kotor is adorned with its long sandy beaches, warm, crystal clear water of the Adriatic sea, and various plants whose pleasant smell remains in memory for a long time. The intoxicating scent of the bay’s herbs particularly attracts tourists, and the mixture of white pine, lavender, and figs makes the whole environment one of a kind.
In recent years, there has been an increasing number of tourists attracted by the exquisite beauty of Kotor Riviera, consisting of vivid small towns Dobrota, Risan, and Prerast, which belong to the Municipality of Kotor, overlooking 7 gorgeous islands, which adorn the Bay of Kotor. A calm atmosphere, without stress, and lovely landscapes of untouched nature make the surroundings of Kotor an impressive place. The small town of Prerast, located 15 km from Kotor, at the foot of the St. Ilija hill, and the island of Gospa od Skrpela (Our Lady of the Rocks), where the same-named Roman Catholic church was built in 1630, stand out in particular, for their ambiance. These places are ideal for a romantic stay in nature and are one of the main tourist attractions in this part of the Adriatic.
Stunning architecture the witness of old times
Kotor is a typical coastal town with specific Mediterranean architecture and numerous narrow cobbled streets that nurture a rich cultural heritage of artistic styles from the Venetian Republic and the Byzantine Empire.
Outstanding examples of medieval architecture, in the form of stone towers and thick walls, make this town one of a kind along the Adriatic coast. They represent its defense system against numerous enemies who have tried to conquer Kotor throughout its turbulent history.
Entering the town through three gates, one can experience a fairy-tale atmosphere right from the start. The most exceptional one, through which one can enter town from the sea, is the Main or Sea Gate, built in the 16th -century during the Venetian governor Bernard Renier’s administration. It is decorated with large, massive stone pillars and arches in the “Bugnato” technique. The two other gates, much smaller in size, are the North Gate, built-in 1450, and the South Gate, otherwise known as Gurdić Gate, supported by three bands of gates built at different times.
Kotor town is famous for its well-preserved Orthodox and Catholic churches nestled in its lovely squares, whose beauty contributes to the rich Balkan culture that keeps an enormous artistic treasure carefully collected and nurtured for centuries. You do not need to be an architectural connoisseur to be aware of its immense cultural values and beauty. What also attracts every art lover are the remarkable facades with astonishing decorative elements on buildings, created in different architectural styles, representing a testimony of many nations who have left majestic architectural masterpieces to the coming generations.
Spend time in the vivid squares of Kotor
Kotor is known as the city of squares. The local population spends a significant part of their time here. Full of pulsating life energy and irresistible Mediterranean charm, they are places of gatherings, entertainment, celebrations, and traditional festivals that have marked the history and life of this city. Walking along the stone streets of Kotor, it is impossible not to find yourself in one of its squares because that is where exactly everything begins and ends.
The Square of Arms
The largest and most architecturally shaped square is the Square of Arms, located at the main city gate with several significant buildings. The Clock Tower from 1602, considered a symbol of the town, built in the Baroque and Gothic styles, occupies the central part of the square opposite the main city gate.
During the Middle Ages, under the Clock Tower stood the Pillar of Shame (Turris torturae), used to punish accused persons. The 18th-century Prince’s Palace, the exceptional construction built in the Renaissance style, dominates the space. With its unique architectural design, without too many details, except for the brackets supporting the long balcony, it is classified as one of the loveliest Renaissance specimens of Kotor architecture. The building changed its purpose several times. At first, it was the residence of the Venetian Governor, then in 1788, the building was converted into barracks with military warehouses. Prince’s Palace, with its elongated shape, is very sensitive to shocks. In 1979 during an earthquake, it was almost destroyed, but today the building is renovated and restored to its former glory.
Right next to the Prince’s Palace continues the city guard tower, built of high-quality stone and used exclusively for military purposes. Together with the Palace, it completes the eastern façade of the town. The main square of Kotor also hosts the 18th-century Napoleon Theater building, restored for the first time during the French occupation in 1812. The construction was converted into one of the first theaters in the Balkans, which had such a purpose until the late 19th century. In the 20th century, the building was the City Council seat and is nowadays renovated and transformed into the luxurious Hotel “Astoria” in 2010.
When you find yourself in the main town square, you can’t help but notice the Arsenal building, once a gathering place for the town’s defenders who fought against enemies who persistently tried to conquer him. One of them was the famous pirate Hajrudin Barbarossa, who sailed around Kotor in 1539 but resigned after three days due to the resistance of his brave warriors. In the Arsenal building, you can see the fully equipped war galley Saint Tryphon, awaking memories of difficult but glorious times of Kotor history.
The Square of Flour
Many members of Kotor aristocratic families have left their legacy, beautiful palaces of exceptional cultural and artistic importance.
On the Square of Flour, named after the warehouses of flour that there once stood, today it is home to two palaces of noble Pima and Buca families.
Pima Palace dominates the square with its beautiful ancient appearance. Its construction began just after the earthquake in 1667. The Palace’s portal with the terrace was built in the Renaissance style, while the windows and upper balcony, leaning on 12 consoles, were designed in the Baroque style. Above the main portal, one can see the Prima family’s coat of arms, supported by two angels, and rebuilt after the earthquake in 1979. The Pima family, the palace’s legal owner, lived in Kotor from the 14th to the 18th centuries. Its current appearance, the building got at the end of the 17th century. According to many, it is considered the most beautiful in the town.
In the same square, just opposite to magnificent Prima Palace, there is Buca Palace, a Gothic building erected at the beginning of the 15th century. The building was owned by the powerful Buca family, whose members were connected with the French Court. Their family coat of arms with a lily display, the symbol of the French kings, speaks in support of this. Many times, the building was exposed to numerous earthquakes that destroyed its facade. It was rebuilt after the 1667 earthquake, when regained its original shine. Of the former lavish Gothic Palace, today remained only one “bifora”, a window with two arches on the west side, visible only from the town walls.
One of the most beautiful Kotor architectural masterpieces that belonged to the Beskuca Family is a same-named palace, dating from the mid-18th century.
The Palace of Beskuća is located, in the street that leads from the Square of Arms to the Square of Flour, opposite the Bizanti Palace. It was created in 1776, on the site of older buildings that existed there.
It is assumed that one of those buildings was the house of the famous Bizanti family, from which the portal was transferred. Beskuća Palace has a simple architectural form and lines without many decorative elements. The most significant element of the palace is the Gothic portal, which was transferred from one of this family’s houses. The portal is a true masterpiece of floral Gothic on the entire eastern Adriatic coast.
In the lunette of the portal of the broken Gothic arch, a richly decorated coat of arms of the Bizanti family is made in deep relief, on whose shield is represented a lion on a horizontal beam with three oblique beams in the lower field.
The palace belonged to the Beskuća family from Prčanj, which rose to prominence at the end of the 18th century, suddenly becoming rich through maritime trade. The family then also gained nobility, and had numerous estates and houses in Boka Kotorska, especially in Prčanj, Kamenari, and Tivat, but also in Venice and Constantinople. She had a beautiful baroque palace in Prčanj. In the city of Verona, she had her fief, called Quaderni.
On the family coat of arms is a snake wrapped around a tree, holding a child in its mouth, with the inscription: “Si deus com nobis, quis contra nos” ( “If God is with us, who can be against us.”). Family legend says that the members of the Beskuća family came to Prčanj from Split as homeless people, but that they quickly became rich so that Count Jozo Beskuća already had 99 houses in Boka and Italy. He wanted to become the owner of exactly one hundred houses and change his surname to “Stokuća”, but he did not succeed, because the power of the Venetian Republic was declining in 1797, and with it the power of this noble family.
After disappearing the family Beskuca successors in the early 19th century, the palace became the property of Kotor, with a simple form of construction without any decorative elements.
Bizanti Palace, with one side facing the Square of Arms and the other one overlooking the street, which leads you to the Square of Flour, is a gorgeous architectural achievement that belonged to the noble Bizanti family, whose prominent members have lived in this area for centuries and contributed a lot to the field of art, culture, and education. The exterior of the palace features elements from the 14th-century Romanesque as well as from the 17th-century Renaissance period when the last alterations occurred both in the external appearance of the facade, along with its internal layout.
Some parts of the Bizanti palace, such as windows, portals, stairs, and the Bizanti Family Coat of Arms, have characteristics of Baroque.
St. Triphone Square
Continuing our walk to the Old Town of Kotor, we reach the busiest pedestrian zone, leading to St. Trypun Square, framed by elegant palaces and civil buildings constructed between the 17th and the 19th centuries. This square also hosts the St. Triphun Cathedral, dating back to 809, built in the pre-Romanesque style. The church interior hides magnificent works of art — an impressive medieval legacy representing the invaluable treasure of Montenegro.
Right next to Saint Tryphon Cathedral, the 12th-century ancestral Drago Family palace found its place. The impressive facade, lavishly decorated with Gothic floral elements, images of angels, and the family coat of arms with a dragon presentation, make this Gothic-style building worth attention.
The prominent members of the Drago family have contributed to a much better everyday life in Kotor, achieving great success in art, culture, economics, and politics. Today, this Palace premises host the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
If you need places like Municipality, Historical Archives, and Bishopric, the oldest institution in Kotor, you will find them on this square, dedicated to St. Triphune, this town’s patron saint.
Museum Square
After Saint Tryphon Square, you will encounter a place vital for the history and culture of this city. It is a large Museum Square, otherwise called the Boka Naval Square, with the early 18th–century Gurgurina Palace, marvelous construction dominated by baroque-style decorations. This palace belonged to the aristocratic Grgurina Family, originating from Istria, and nowadays, this building hosts the Maritime Museum seat. The Museum’s permanent exhibition covers the period from the founding of the Boka Navy, from the 9th century, until the end of the Second World War. The Museum contains a collection of model ships, instruments, weapons, maps, charters, and documents of great scientific and historical importance, pointing to the rich maritime past of the Boka Kotorska area.
The Square of Salad
Once upon a time, one sold salad on this square, which is how it got its name. Even though centuries have passed, this space next to the St. Tryphon Cathedral, with two small restaurants, a tiny, picturesque shop, and an old-fashioned fountain, still captivates with its irresistible Mediterranean charm and atmosphere from the olden days.
The Square of Salad, from which you can reach Gurdić Gate, one of three town’s exits or entrances, is hidden from the eyes of the public, far from the noise and crowds of curious tourists. Rarely any tourist can find this place, so it represents an oasis of peace where you can enjoy traditional dishes of local cuisine and beautiful music and is ideal for a romantic evening out for two.
Cinema Square
Cinema Square is a small romantic square that if you love cats you must visit because the Cats Museum awaits you there. It is the most interesting place in Kotor if you are a fan of these cuties. Opened in 2016, it preserves interesting photos of photogenic Kotor cats, but you can often see real, live cats happily strolling through their museum.
Over time, cats have become a symbol of Kotor and there is no square or street where it is not possible to meet this animal. Kotor cats climb to the top of the walls, and many of them live in souvenir shops, and boutiques. The best-selling souvenir is a magnet with the image of a Kotor cat.
Opposite Cats Museum on the same square, there is the Church of St. Michael or the Lapidarium, built in the Roman Gothic style. This church has been converted into a small Lapidarium, which has a rich collection of stone objects, which have been collected since 1906. The Lapidarium exhibits from the ancient period, early Christianity, the Renaissance, Romanism, and the Gothic period. Here it is possible to see numerous unique Roman gravestones, the most significant of which is the head (portrait) of the Roman emperor Domitian from the first century BC.
Orthodox and Catholic churches
What makes the architecture of Kotor specific are religious landmarks, beautiful churches from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period that indicate the mixture of cultures from the East and the West, Orthodoxy, and Catholicism, which have existed for centuries on the soil of this town, as well as people with their own customs and different religious affiliations.
Art lovers can enjoy sightseeing them, of which many are exceptional architectural masterpieces, which are mandatory places on the cultural route of Kotor.
What you should look at are the 12th-century Church of Saint Ana and the Churches of Saint Mary and Saint Luke from the 13th century, which are particularly beautiful, each in its own way. The Church of the Healing Mother of God, built in the 16th -century, located in the hinterland of town, stands out with its mysterious and calm atmosphere. In hidden places of beautiful Kotor, particularly in its churches, you can experience a feeling of peace and serenity.
The most magnificent are St. Luke and St Nicolas churches, both located on St Luke’s Square. St. Luke’s Church was constructed during the reign of the Serbian Nemanjić dynasty in 1195 and represents one of the five surviving Kotor religious buildings built in the Romanesque style. According to the founder’s inscription preserved on the Church’s western facade, St. Luke’s Church was erected by Mauro Kazafrangi with his wife, Bono. Shortly after the St. Luke’s church construction, its interior was decorated with frescoes, of which only fragments remained on the south wall. The iconostasis is the work of Dimitrije Daskal, the founder of the Rafailović School of Painting from the 17th century.
Along the northern facade of the church, the chapel of St. Spyridon was added in the 18th -century. The specificity of St. Luke’s Church is in the fact that it housed together Catholic and Orthodox altars. In 1657, the Orthodox population of Grbalj took shelter from the Turkish invasion in Kotor and Venetian city administration allowed them to use the Catholic Church of St. Luke for the Orthodox rites. For this reason, the church had two altars used until the French occupation of Kotor 1807–1814. The church’s floor consists of tombstones of tombs of Kotor inhabitants because burials were performed inside until the 1930s of the 20th century.
On the same square, placed on the right side, there is St Nicholas church, recently rebuilt in the place of a former old 16th-century Dominican church of St. Nicholas that represents a great example of Serbian- Byzantine architectural construction style, hosting an impressive collection of icons.
Visit St Govani Fortress
At 280 meters above the Old Town of Kotor is Sant Govani fortress, which dates back to the Illyrian era and, throughout its turbulent history, has undergone countless renovations, survived many earthquakes, and repelled many invaders.
From St. Giovani fortification, behind which the peaks of Lovćen rise, there is a spectacular panoramic view of the town of Kotor, the beautiful harbor, Boka Kotor Bay, and the surrounding mountains, the branches of the mountain Orjen (1895 meters), Radostak (1446), and Dobroštica (1570), spreading from the northwest. Solid walls of the fortress in some places have a thickness of up to 20 meters.
Despite severe damage from the 1979 earthquake, the fortress and surrounding well-preserved walls. Besides, there is a small church dedicated to St. Ivan on top of the mountain. The complex is open to all tourists, but the only limitation is the difficult access to the bastion.
Somewhere halfway to the top of the fortress is the Church of Our Lady of Health, built at the beginning of the 16th century as a sign of gratitude for saving the town from the plague. Near it is a small area with benches for rest. Here you can take a break during the climbing or descent from the mountain since the ascent is quite tiring although very fascinating.
And when you reach the very top, you will be greeted by a stunning sight of the old town, the entire Boka Kotor Bay, the blue of the Adriatic Sea, and the peaks of the surrounding mountains as if in the palm of your hand — an extraordinary beauty that one can not describe in words!
If you decide to visit Kotor, you will certainly not regret it because this coastal city has so much to offer. Take a walk on its picturesque streets, and see the squares, churches, and magnificent palaces. Kotor is a perfect place for art lovers, adventurers eager for excitement, and lovers of lavish natural beauty that’ll leave you breathless.
Enjoy its beautiful landscapes and the spectacular view of the Bay of Kotor, with unforgettable sunsets. Visiting Kotor is a unique opportunity for food fans to try the Mediterranean specialties and rich Balkan cuisine, along with tasting great wines from this region.
You will never be bored here because this town allures a lively atmosphere and is the perfect place to spend your long, hot summer.
