Boka Kotorska

Boka Kotorska, a spacious and branched bay in the southern part of the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, is an integral part of the Montenegrin coast, and the extreme southwestern part around the Oštra peninsula belongs to Croatia; covers 87.3 km². North and northeast of the line Cape Mirište - Cape Oštra zaljev penetrates about 24 km deep into the mainland. The Bay of Kotor consists of several interconnected bays: the outer Herceg Novi or Toplan Bay, the central Tivat Bay and the inner Risan, Morinj and Kotor Bays. In the hinterland of the Bay of Kotor, the limestone mountains Lovćen (1749 m) and Orjen (1894 m) rise, whose slopes descend steeply towards the coast. During the Pleistocene, the river flowed through the Bay of Kotor, digging valleys (bays) in softer flysch layers, and in the hard limestones of the gorge (sea straits of the Chain and the Bay of Kotor). More resistant limestone parts (humps) remained in the valleys, which could not be completely leveled by river erosion. As sea levels rose after the ice age, river valleys and gorges were submerged; a branched bay was created, in which the peaks of the hummocks protrude above the sea level like islets.The Bay of Herceg Novi is connected to the open sea by the Boka Kotorska Gate or the Oštra Strait, and to the Bay of Tivat by the Kumbor Strait. At the very entrance to the Bay of Kotor is the island of Mamula. The northern shore of the Herceg Novi Bay is steep and rocky; the greatest depth is 45 m. The Bay of Tivat is the central part of the Bay of Kotor, which is about 300 m wide and 2.5 km long by the Strait of Verige connected with the Gulf of Risan, Morinj and Kotor in the north; the greatest depth is 41 m (along the coast 10 m). In its southeastern part are the islands of St. Mark (Stradioti), Flower Island (Prevlaka) and the Island of Our Lady of Mercy. Of the three inland bays, the largest and deepest (36 m) is the Bay of Kotor. At the place where the bays meet, there are the islands of Sveti Đorđe and Gospa od Škrpjela. The Bay of Kotor has a Mediterranean climate with warm summers and mild and rainy winters (Herceg Novi, 1717 mm); the average annual temperature is 16 ° C. In winter, the most common wind is bora, in spring and autumn jugo, and in summer mistral. The vegetation is Mediterranean and subtropical, lush in places. Grapevines, olives, figs, lemons and oranges, corn, tobacco and vegetables thrive on arable land. The basis of the economy is maritime (Montenegrin navigation) and tourism. Shipbuilding, chemical and construction industry (brickyard) was developed. Fisheries are relatively well developed (about 90% of the total catch is blue fish); oyster farming. Larger cities and ports are: Herceg Novi, Kotor, Zelenika and Tivat; other settlements are Igalo, Bijela, Dobrota, Perast, Risan and others. Larger ships dock in Kotor; near Tivat is the international airport. The Adriatic Highway runs along the western and northern coast of the Bay of Kotor. - The area of ​​the Bay of Kotor has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Remains (money, fortifications, etc.) were discovered from the Illyrian period, and inscriptions (Kotor, Perast, etc.), architectural remains, graves, mosaics (Risan), traces of the road leading from Aquileia to Shkodra have been preserved. .

In connection with the transmission of the cult of St. Tripuna, in his honor, a church was built in Kotor (809). The first is the Kotor three-nave basilica of St. Petar u Šuranju (from 840), while the single-nave churches of Sv. Luke (1195) and St. Mary (1221) built in the Romanesque style (they differ from Byzantine buildings especially in the way they were built). The three-nave Kotor Cathedral of St. Trypuna (1166) originally had a dome (demolished in the 16th century); especially valuable is the ciborium with depictions of the life of St. Tryphon from the XIV. In addition to the Romanesque, there are variants of Romanesque-Gothic and Gothic-Renaissance churches - St. Paul (1236) and St. Ana (XII / XIII century) in Kotor. At that time, builders, sculptors and goldsmiths worked in Kotor; Vito, builder of Decani (1328), O. Desislavić and others. At the transition from the Gothic to the Renaissance in Kotor, the first palaces were built (Byzantium, Zmajević).(pictores graeci) - frescoes in the Cathedral of St. Tripuna - and for some time the famous painters M. Junčić, L. Dobričević and sons.

Baroque is present on many monuments of church and civic architecture: the church of St. Stasija in Dobrota, Bujović Palace, Zmajević Palace (so-called Diocese) and the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks (on the island) in Perast, the parish church of Bl. Dj. Marija, Luković Palace in Prčanj. Baroque monuments in Kotor are prominent in the entire eastern Adriatic; paintings, statues and metal objects are imported from Venice (altar in the church of St. Clare, decoration of the reliquary of St. Tryphon by F. Cabiance, 1704–08). The most beautiful baroque monument of civil architecture is the Pima Palace, and the largest building is the Providur Palace. At the turn of XVII / XVIII. The painter T. Kokolja (who painted the church of Our Lady of the Rocks) worked in Kotor in the 16th century. - The Church of the Orthodox Monastery of Savina (Herceg Novi), a combination of late Baroque and Byzantine and Romanesque tradition, was built (1777–99) by N. Foretić from Korčula. - In IV. century BC Kr. there the alliance of the Illyrian peoples is mentioned. The capital was Risan(Rhison), an important military fort and trading center of the bay, with numerous archaeological traces of Illyrian culture (forts, cyclopean walls, money). The first written news comes from 228 BC. BC, when the Illyrian queen Teuta took refuge in Risan under the pressure of the Romans. The Roman conquest (167 BC) marked the beginning of the centuries-old Roman rule of Boka (until 476), during which Risan retained the status of the leading administrative and economic center, and until the XII. century the whole bay is called Risan (Sinus Rhisonicus).From 476 to 1185, the supremacy of Byzantium and Zeta rulers changed over Boka. During this period, Kotor gradually became the leading seat of Boka. City self-government is being developed, communal arrangements are being organized on the model of other eastern Adriatic cities, and economic and cultural communication is being directed towards the western (Adriatic-Mediterranean) circle. In the rural hinterland of Boka, at the same time, four self-governing municipalities organized on the principles of rural customary law of Katun communities (Grbalj, Paštrovići, Topla and Zbor sv. Mihajla) are gradually separated. In 1186, Kotor was ruled by Nemanjić and retained the foundations of local self-government. Over the next two centuries, Kotor grew into an important trade and traffic hub at the crossroads of the Balkan countries and the Mediterranean, and the lawyers of the noble families there (Bolica, Buća, etc. ) act as trade entrepreneurs and diplomatic representatives (in the service of the rulers of neighboring countries) throughout the West. After a period of transitional administrations (Hungarian-Croatian 1371–84; Bosnian 1384–91; independence of Kotor 1391–1420), the Bay of Kotor gradually became part of the Venetian Trans-Adriatic acquis from 1420 (Kotor and southern Boka 1420; Paštrovići from 1423; Budva from 1442). . The Boka economic rise at that time greatly slowed down the descent of the Ottomans from Herzegovina (1482) and the occupation of the coast from Herceg Novi to Risan. During the Venetian-Turkish wars, the towns of Boka were fortified and reinforced by strong military garrisons, becoming a center of resistance to the Ottomans, and the local population, led by officers from patrician and civil families, contributed significantly to this. Kotor and Perast were destroyed during multiple Ottoman sieges (1539, 1571, 1654, 1657). During the Morean War (1684–99), Venetian land and naval military action resulted in the liberation of the northwestern coast from Risan (1684) to Kotor (1687) and the complete annexation of Boka to Venetian southern Adriatic possessions. Thanks to exceptional contributions to Venetian military service during the Candian and Morean Wars, the towns of Perast, Prcanj and Dobrota were freed from Kotor's administrative jurisdiction, which, along with the cessation of war and the creation of preconditions for free navigation in the southern Adriatic, enabled their rapid economic progress. Shipowner-captain families from Boka towns became in the XVIII. century leading bearers of maritime trade between East and West; their ships reach all major European ports, and the trading branches of the leading shipping families are the most elite part of the Croatian trans-Adriatic community throughout the Apennine Peninsula (especially in Venice). The Boka economic rise has contributed to the cultural development of the city's centers, where, thanks to the votive gifts and legacies of wealthy sailors, numerous Catholic churches and chapels are built, paintings by top masters are commissioned and cultural and educational institutions are supported. The Boka cultural tradition at that time was entirely similar to the traditions of city centers along the eastern and western Adriatic coast, and its civilizational atmosphere was permeated mainly by the influences and permeations of the European West. After the fall of the Venetian Republic (1797) over Boka, the transitional administrations changed (the first Austrian 1797–1806; the Russian 1806–07 and the French 1807–13), and from 1814. the one-century period of the second Austrian administration (1814–1918) began, in which Boka formed an integral part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia. Until then, the highly developed Bokelj shipping industry experienced stagnation caused by economic and technical changes (the appearance of steamships), the "continental blockade" at the beginning of the 19th century. century and the Austrian favoring of Rijeka and Trieste to the detriment of other Adriatic shipping centers. From the second half of the XIX. In the 16th century, a strong Croatian revival movement developed in Boka, mainly relying on revival events in the Dalmatian and Dubrovnik areas. During the Austrian rule, the settlement of Tivat was built, where a war port was built that would play an important role in military operations during World War I. In 1929, it was annexed to the Zeta Banovina, and after World War II. World War I for the first time historically became part of Montenegro. Separation from Croatia caused the emigration of the Croatian population. At the same time, the immigration of the Montenegrin population from the hinterland increased, which further marginalized the Croatian community, especially after 1991.