The city of Kotor in Montenegro is an old Mediterranean city with a port and
is located in a beautiful bay. The city is very suitable for tourists, because
on the one hand there are very interesting buildings to see, but also many small
stores. And if you come to Kotor by car, you can see the beautiful bay from
above already on the way. For this purpose, there is an excellent viewpoint...
Kotor and Kotor Bay Overlook (WM145E7)
This
stop is the starting point of the tour. If you come to Kotor
on the streets from the south, you wouldn't want to miss that stop to have a
breathtaking view over the city, the bay and the mountains in the background - especially, when you have good weather.
The parking area is big enough for several cars or even busses.
When you took enough photos, it's time to enter your
vehicle again and drive to the next stop of this tour, the ....
Sea Gate (WM145C6)
There
are several ways to enter the old town of Kotor, but the Sea Gate is probably the
most popular one. It was built in 1555 and all the goods that came here by ship
had to pass it to enter the city. If you take a closer look, you will notice "MD"on the left and
"LV" on the right, which sums up to MDLV (1555).
Another stone tablet saying "21-XI-1944" was added, when Kotor was liberated
from the Nazis. And they also added a citation of Tito, saying something like
"Theirs we don't want, ours we won't give".
If you enter the Old Town through the Sea Gate and
continue straight for a few meters, you will come to the...
Clock and bell tower (WM145NA)
In the old town of Kotor there is a very old clock and bell tower on the
"Trg od Oružja" (The Arms Square), the main and biggest square in Kotor. The
tower has two clocks (facing west and south). They are quite simple with
Roman numbers for each hour and two simple hands. On the west side of the
tower there is an inscription in Latin:
HAEC ET MAIORA REPENDAM
MERITIS NON A LIVNDE
PARATIS
The next stop is a somewhat hidden treasure. It's the ...
Old black poplar (WM145JV)
On a small square in the old town of Kotor there is this very old black poplar (Populus nigra).
A sign in two languages (Montenegrin and English)
in front of it has some information about it. The sign says, that it was planted after an
earthquake in 1667. Wow! But you can also just admire the shade it will give you
on hot days, sit down for a while and relax. Or maybe you are lucky enough to
see one of the numerous cultural events, especially during the Kotor festival of
theater for children, that take place here.
After some relaxing it's time for some history in the ...
Maritime Museum (WM148VD)
In the old town of Kotor there is the beautiful "Pomorski muzej" (Maritime
Museum), which has a lot to show to those interested in maritime history. On
three floors there are models of various ships, uniforms and folk costumes,
furniture, jewelry, weapons, paintings, photos and much more to see. There is
one room dedicated to the maritime fraternity - "Boka Marine", one to World War
I and II, one to the maritime education and so on.
Enough history for today? How about some culture/music?
Let's walk on to the ...
Evergreen Jazz Club (WM148MZ)
The interior is very cosy, but on a sunny day or to have a lower level of noise one can also sit on one of the tables in front of the club. The music is very good and the club also hosts international and local artists on a regular basis.
In front of the club they have a beautiful statue of the upper body of Miles Davis, made of all kinds of metal parts. Miles Davis is showing a typical pose, holding the trumpet with two hands against his lips and seems to be playing it, while looking down. The sculpture is attached to the facade of the building.
On the way to the last stop we pass a penny smasher for
what will be the last stop. So, you might buy in advance a ...
Souvenir Medallion for Saint Nicholas Church (WM148XZ)
On a small square in the old town of Kotor stands a penny smasher with only one motif, the "Crkva Svetog Nikole" (Church of St. Nicholas). The machine is able to create more motifs and also explains how to select a certain motif, but right now the church is the only available motif. The machine has instructions in Montenegrin and English. The final coin has only the text "Kotor" and "Montenegro", but interestingly not the name of the church.
The price for smashing a 5 Cents coin is 1 Euro.
And now it's time for the last stop of our tour, the ...
Church of St. Nicholas (WM148Y2)
This is a beautiful
Serbian Orthodox church from the early 20th century and they have a wonderful
replica of it, which is actually the topic of this WM. The replica is brass-colored and the entrance of
it has a
multi-colored painting. The picture shows Jesus Christ coming out of a chalice.
A closer look at the door reveals that it has a tiny lock and that it can
obviously be opened. Unfortunately, there is no information to be found about
what is inside this replica.
The replica has a tiny wooden(?) base and is resting on a table that is
covered with a red and beautifully embroidered velvet fabric with a fringe.
Feel free to discover the rest of the church and take a lot of photos.
You could post numerous WMs in various categories here.
I hope you like the tour and there is definitely much more to discover here. Enjoy!
Below you can see a map of the tour, but it doesn't include the first stop,
because this one is quite far from the old town, but I wanted to include the
Overlook in this tour nonetheless.