Skip to main content

THE JEWEL OF MONTENEGRO - PERAST


Montenegro means Black Mountain and we had heard that the country is as beautiful as it is unique. The proximity of Montenegro to Dubrovnik tempted us to reserve a day trip to this Balkan country. The intent was to drive by the Bay of Kotor and experience some of the towns along the coast. It took us little more than two hours to catch the first glimpse of the Bay. The border check at the Croatian and Montenegrin borders was smooth and took no more than ten minutes. Astonishingly beautiful, it is not a surprise that this Bay is rated as one of the most beautiful of it's kind in the world. Also known as Boka, the Bay of Kotor forms a beautiful link between the Adriatic Sea and Montenegro. Crystal clear waters with visibility reaching to the bottom, the Boka is surrounded by two mountains - Orjen to the west and Lovcen to the east. Some really beautiful medieval towns are well preserved in this region. We had shortlisted Perast, the UNESCO heritage of Kotor and Budwa - arguably three of the most popular names in the region. This post is about Perast.

Perast, a tiny fishing village believed to be founded by the Ancient Greeks, continued  to prosper as a maritime town from the fifteenth century as it came under the Venetian influence. But, following Napoleon's victory over the Republic of Venice in the 18th century, Perast witnessed fall of prosperity and the regional disturbance continued in the background of multiple political influence including those of the French and the Austro Hungarian Empires, the world wars and then the Yugoslavian era. By the time sustainable peace returned, it was almost the end of the twentieth century. 
This small town is famous for it's two islets in the Bay - St. George and the Lady of our rocks. A  short boat ride takes to the islets. 
Perast was known for its strong naval presence in the medieval era and some of the best seafarers of the era belonged to this place. It is believed that the medieval mariners of this region kept an oath of laying a stone after each successful voyage...following the sighting of an icon of the "Madonna and Child"  on a rock in the region during the fifteenth century. Years turned into decades and eventually, by the accumulation of the stones the islet emerged. Subsequent  sinking of some old ships helped the islet get it's shape and a Roman Catholic Church was built on it...and was named The Church of Our Lady of the Rocks. The Church was renovated during the early eighteenth century and houses some important paintings and artifacts of the region. The Church also houses a famous tapestry woven by a Perast local named Jacinta. As per the legends, Jacinta took years weaving golden and silver fibers as she waited for her partner to return. Apparently she had embroidered her own hair into the tapestry. 

St. George, the other islet is a stone's throw away. Unlike the Lady of the Rocks, this one is a natural islet. This islet houses the graveyard of the Perast nobility and a twelfth century Benedictine Monastery.
Perast, as a town, houses no more than a few hundred people. And this lends a sort of exclusivity to the town. Some other destinations of the town includes the St. Nikola church, the Smekja Palace and a museum. We spend some time walking on the streets of Perast and then proceeded to the next town. Perast is indeed beautiful and unique.

The post wont be complete without a video of this Montenegrin jewel with its islets... and the water and the mountains.

This post is for alphabet ‘M' of the #BlogchatterA2Z 2020 challenge:
 M for Montenegro

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ANTWERP CENTRAL STATION

 As deep as I can peep into my past, I always sense very fond and nostalgic memories of railway stations. So many moments of  childhood began and ended in railway stations. My love for railway stations continues and whenever I get a chance I don't miss a visit into a station to experience the magical energy of the mixed sound of thousands of  fast moving footsteps and eager voices. European settings provide infinite moments to any traveler. Antwerp is no exception too. Like any other  European city with a strong medieval connect, Antwerp owns its history and legends. While it may take pages to write about Antwerp, let me restrict this post to the first landmark of Antwerp, its getaway - its very own train station, the Antwerp Central, located in Koningin Astreidplein, in the heart of the city.   The brainchild of King Leopold II and designed by Louis Delacenserie, Antwerp Central, with its stone clad structure and huge dome, has s...
20 comments
Read more

THE CLASSIC RIVALRY OF OLD ZAGREB

We stood there absorbing the beautiful sunset that Old Zagreb, locally known as Gornji Grad, offered. The February evening was delightfully clear and presented a view to remember. In front of us,  mingling with the red tiled roofs, dominated majestically the two famous monuments - the Zagreb Cathedral of Kaptol and the St. Mark's Church of Gradec...along with the bits and the pieces of the historic panorama of a thousand years.  Few centuries back, during the medieval period, when the region was not known as Zagreb, existed two hill top settlements - the Kaptol and the Gradec, separated by the then existing rivulet Medvescak. The Kaptol housed the Cathedral and was the religious center while the Gradec was home to the merchants and the craftsmen. It took the two settlements centuries of bitter rivalry before prudence took over and they decided to unify during the nineteenth century, thus together becoming Zagreb. The reasons for this bitterness were many ranging from s...
3 comments
Read more

THE YACHTS OF VOLENDAM

There is something incredibly charming about fishing villages. Be it in Europe or anywhere else in the world. Possibly due to the presence of the sea so close...and the  rituals of the sea, the fishermen are so adept at. The aspirations of the morning and the catch of the day...and the songs of the sea...of the calmness and the turbulence.  Volendam is one such fishing village, located in Northern Netherlands about thirty minutes drive from the Amsterdam central by bus... there are a plenty of them from Amsterdam Central. The village is located on the lake IJsselmeer, the largest lake in the Netherlands.  Vollendam means a "filled dam" and that is how it had started by filling an existing harbor and reclaiming the land artificially during the fourteenth century. A separate smaller canal and a new harbor was dug and this how this village was created. During the first half of twentieth century, as a part of the Dutch water management exercise, the water-body, which...
2 comments
Read more