Gulf of Kotor

Map

Infos
Name:	Bay of Kotor, Бока которска/Boka Kotorska (sr)
Position:	Montenegro
Rivers:	Karst hydrology, Sopot, Skurda submerged sources
Destination:	Sea
Settlements:	Kotor, Herceg Novi, Risan, Tivat, Dobrota, Perast
Records:	Largest bay in the Adriatic, submerged river canyon (Bokeljska reka)
Numbers
Water Area:	87 km²
Max depth:	60 m
Average depth:	27.3 m
Water content:	2412, 306 km³ (2,4 mrd m³)
Highest point:	Orjen = 1894 m
Lowest point:	Sea surface = 0 m
Length:	28,13 km
Widest point:	7 km
Narrowest point:	0.3 km
Hydrologic system:	karst hydrology ca. 4000 km²
Shoreline:	107.3 km
Images

Boka Kotorska (The Bay of Kotor, Serbian Cyrillic: Бока которска, Italian: Bocche di Cattaro) in western Montenegro, is a winding bay on the Adriatic sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokeljska reka which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro.

The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has well preserved medieval towns. The picturesque towns of Kotor, Perast and Herceg Novi are - along with their natural surroundings - major touristic attractions. The religious heritage of the bay - its numerous Orthodox Christian and Catholic churches and monasteries - makes it one of the major pilgrimage sites of the whole region.

History

The nearby hamlet of Risan (Risano) was a thriving Illyrian city called Rhizon as early as 229 BC and gave its name to the Boka, then known as Rhizonicus Sinus. Rhizon submitted to Rome in 168 BC, at the same time that Ascrivium, or Ascruvium, the modern Kotor (Cattaro), is first mentioned as a neighboring city.

Kotor itself has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, and was one of the more influential Dalmatian city-states throughout the period. It later passed to Bulgaria and then to Serbia before becoming a semi-independent republic and protectorate of medieval Serbian kings. Its merchant fleet and importance gradually increased, and after the fall of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century, Kotor was seized by the Venetian Republic.

The Bokelj's had a very strong fleet, which counted as many as 300 ships in the 18th century. Boka was a rival to Dubrovnik and Venice.

At the beginning of the 19th century the region of Boka Kotorska was included in the Illyrian provinces, which were a part of the French Empire. The region was later conquered by Montenegro with Russian help by Episcop of Cetinje Petar I Njegoš and in 1813 a union of Boka with Montenegro was declared, although the Bay got annexed by the Austrian Empire (Austro-Hungary since 1867) in 1815 and was included into the province of Dalmatia (part of Cisleithania since 1867).

According to 1818 data, Boka had 29,899 inhabitants, of whom 21,310 were Orthodox Christians and 8,589 Roman Catholics. At that time municipalities with an Orthodox majority were Kotor, Risan, Grbalj, Budva, and Herzeg-Novi, while municipalities with a Catholic majority were Dobrota, Prčanj, Stoliv, Kontada kotorska, and Perast.

In 1848 the Serb National Guard of Kotor refused the proposition of Petar II Petrović Njegoš to unite with Croatia-Slavonia, stating that Serbs have to be unified first before uniting with other Slavs.

The population of the municipalities of Boka in 1900:

Budva = 5,526 Orthodox Christians, 1,537 Catholics
Herceg-Novi = 7,377 Orthodox Christians, 2,198 Catholics
Kotor = 7,617 Catholics, 7,207 Orthodox Christians
Risan = 4,020 Orthodox Christians, 1,385 Catholics

According to the 1910 census, Boka had 40,582 inhabitants, of whom 24,794 were Orthodox Christians and 14,523 Catholics.

Censuses of Roman Catholic Serbo-Croatian municipalities from 1931:

Kotor: 3,006 Catholics, 2,090 Orthodox Christians
Dobrota: 675 Catholics, 575 Orthodox Christians
Muo: 483 Catholics, 97 Orthodox Christians
Prčanj: 584 Catholics, 169 Orthodox Christians
Tivat: 2,726 Catholics, 482 Orthodox Christians
Perast: 1,103 Catholics, 322 Orthodox Christians

From 1918, Boka Kotorska was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929). Between 1918 and 1922 the region was a separate county administered from Kotor, between 1922 and 1929 it was part of Zetska oblast, and between 1929 and 1941 part of Zetska banovina. According to the 1921 census, Boka had 36,539 inhabitants, of whom 23,777 were Orthodox Christians and 12,342 Catholics.

The region of Boka Kotorska was occupied by fascist Italy in 1941, and since 1945, it has been part of the Republic of Montenegro.

Today, most of the inhabitants of the region are Orthodox Christian declaring themselves on census forms either as Serbs or as Montenegrins, while about 11% of its population is Catholic, mostly declaring themselves as Croats.

Boka Kotorska region is under the protection of UNESCO due to its very rich cultural heritage. In 1979 there was an earthquake that destroyed or seriously damaged numerous cultural monuments.

Population

Most inhabitants of Boka are Serbs (41.89%) and Montenegrins (34.68%) with some Croats (7.61%). As a result of assimilation, the population of Croats began to diminish when Yugoslavia was created in 1918 and especially after the civil war in Croatia in 1991 (In 1910, the Croat population of Boka was 18.9%).

The three municipalities making up Boka Kotorska have a total population of 71,443 (2003 census):

Kotor = 23,481 (11,002 Montenegrins, 7,197 Serbs, 1,842 Croats)
Tivat = 13,991 (4,911 Serbs, 4,126 Montenegrins, 2,761 Croats)
Herceg-Novi = 33,971 (17,818 Serbs, 9,651 Montenegrins, 831 Croats)

Of these, 76% are Serb Orthodox and 11% are Catholics.

Ethnic groups in Boka

Serbs and Montenegrins

Slavic and Serb tribes settled in Boka Kotorska in the 7th century. The region was divided between Travunians (who were a Serb tribe) and Docleans (of whom it is not explicitly stated that they were Serbs in origin, but later they were also considered to be Serbs).

When the autonomous Serbian Orthodox Church was established in the 13th century, one of its first eparchies was established in Boka.

Historically, there were 3 Orthodox monasteries and 250 Orthodox churches in Boka, most of which still exist.

Serbian organizations in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Serb Library in Herceg Novi from 26 June 1899
The Palace of the Serb Gathering, built in Kotor as a three-story house, 1838;
Serb Vocal Society "Jedinstvo", founded in Kotor, 1839;
Serb Library, founded in Kotor in 1838 renamed in "Slavic Library" in 1849, to gather Croats, * Slovenians and Czechs together with Serbs;
Serb People's School under the jurisdiction of the Church, founded in Kotor, 1848;
Serb Memorial Music School, founded in Kotor, 1854;
Serb National Guard, founded in Kotor, 1862;
Serb National Charity Society "Saint George", founded in Kotor, 1868;
Serb Orthodox School, founded in Kotor, 1869;
Serb Orthodox Episcopate, established in Kotor, 1870;
Schematism of the Serb Orthodox Diocese of Boka Kotorska and Dubrovnik, annual, first time appeared in print in Kotor, 1874;
Serb Tamburitza Orchestra, founded in Kotor, 1895;
Serb Memorial Women Primary School, founded in Kotor, 1893;
Serb Music, founded in Kotor, 1897;
Serb Workers' Cooperative, founded in Kotor, 1899;
Serb Credit Union, founded in Kotor, 1901;
"Jedinstvo" joined Union of Serb Vocal Societies in 1903;
Serb Falcon Society, founded in Kotor, 1910;
Serb Primary School, founded in Morinj, 1803;
Serb People's School, founded in Gornje Selo in 1804. Later, after that school Gornje Selo will be named Srbina;
Serb People's School under the jurisdiction of the Church, founded in Risan, 1844;
Serb Library, founded in Morinj, 1845;
Serb Savings Bank, founded in Herceg Novi, 1850;
Serb Memorial Maritime School, founded in Srbina near Herceg Novi, 1852;
Serb Magazine, annual, founded in Risan, 1896;
Serb Workers' Society, founded in Herceg Novi, 1900;
Serb Hotel, built in 1900 in Herceg Novi;
Serb Credit Union, founded in Herceg Novi, 1902;
Serb Collective Farm, founded in Kamenari, 1902;
Serb Credit Bank, founded in Herceg Novi, 1904;
Serb Collective Farms were founded in 1904 in Kameno, Mokrin, Glavati, Glavaticici, Prijeradi and Radovici;
Serb Library, founded in Kamenari, 1910;
Serb Falcon District of the Littoral, founded in Herceg Novi, 1912;
Serb House in Herceg Novi and Serb Library in Risan acted before 1912, but there were no records when they had been founded.

Croats

The towns of Kotor, Perast, Tivat, Dobrota, Prčanj, Herceg-Novi and Budva had a Roman Catholic majority in 1910. Vrmac peninsula and the southern part of Spich (from Sutomore to the border between Boka Kotorska and Montenegro near the town of Bar) had an absolute Catholic majority in 1910.

For example, the number of Catholics in the Cities of Kotor dropped from 69% in 1910 to 7% in 1991; in Herceg-Novi from 70% to 2%; in Tivat from 95% to 23%.

In 1893, the Croatian Home (Hrvatski dom) was opened in Kotor.

In 1991 Croats comprised 8% of the Bay of Kotor, and in 2003 the percent of Croats was 7.61%.

The Bokelj Marine 809 (Bokeljska mornarica 809) is a fraternal society whose aim is to preserve Croat maritime tradition. In 809 the remains of St. Tripun were brought by Croat mariners from Asia Minor to Kotor. The Cathedral of St. Tripun in Kotor is the oldest Croat cathedral in this area, built by Croats in 1166.

It is worth mentioning that the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (consisting of Serbia and Montenegro) participated at the international maritime exhibition EXPO'98 in Lisbon, Portugal, by displaying the cultural and maritime heritage of Boka Kotorska. The display did not mention the Croats in Boka Kotorska.

The town of Perast had an extremely difficult time in 1654 when the attacks of the Ottomans were especially dangerous. Their brave and successful defense of Boka was the reason for the arrival of Petar Zrinski, a famous Croatian statesman, who also had numerous dramatic battles with the Ottomans. During his three-day sojourn in Perast he presented his legendary sword to the town as the sign of his recognition of their efforts to defend their homeland and to stop the expansion of the Ottoman Empire into Middle Europe.

Geography

The bay is composed of several smaller broad gulfs, united by narrower channels, forming one of the finest natural harbours in Europe. The boka inlet was formally a river system. Very intensive tectonics and karstification processes led to the disintegration of this river. After heavy rain the famous waterfall of Sopot spring at Risan appears and Skurda, another well known spring runs through a canyon from Lovcen. The outermost gulf is the gulf of Tivat (Teodo) and a small naval port. On the seaward side, there is the gulf of Herceg Novi (Castelnuovo), which guards the main entrance to Boka. The inner gulfs are the gulf of Risan to the northwest and the gulf of Kotor to the southeast.

On the landward side, the long walls running from the fortified old town of Kotor to the castle of Saint John, far above, formed a striking feature in the landscape; and the heights of the Krivošije (Krivoscie), a group of barren plateaus in Mount Orjen, were crowned by small forts.

There are many interesting places on the shores of the Boka Kotorska. Herceg Novi has an Orthodox convent of St. Sava nearby (Savina monastery) standing amid beautiful gardens. It was founded in the 16th century and contains many fine specimens of 17th century silversmiths' work. Eight miles east of Herceg Novi, there is a Benedictine monastery on a small island opposite Perast (Perasto). Perast itself was for a time an independent state in the 14th century.

Climate

The Bay of Kotor lies within the Mediterranean subtropical belt. While summers are hot and sunny, autumn, winter and spring are rainy seasons. It is the climate type of the Mediterranean but modifications exist in the vast region. A peculiarity of the littoral Dinarids is the precipitation regime as at the Bay of Kotor, Mt. Orjen receives Europe's most heavy precipitation. Just as the monsoon rain is seasonally distributed, so too November thunderstorms sometimes pour 2000 l of water in several days, while August is frequently completely dry, leading to forest fires. With a maximum discharge of 200 m³/sec of water one of the biggest karst springs, the Sopot spring, is a remarkable indicator of this seasonal variation. Most of the time it is inactive but after heavy rain a remarkable waterfall appears 20 m above the Bay of Kotor.

Station	Height ^*	Type	Character	Precipitation ^*	Snow
Zubacki kabao	1894	D	perhumid Mediterranean snowclimate	ca. 6250	ap. 140 days
Crkvice	940	Cfsb	(fs= without summerdryness), perhumid Mediterranean mountain climate	4926	70 days
Risan	0	Cs’’a	(s’’= double winter rain season), perhumid Mediterranean coast climate	3500	2 days

* classification scheme after Köppen

Two wind systems are noteworthy for their ecological significance: Bora and Scirocco. Strong cold downslope winds of the Bora type appear in winter and are most severe in the Bay of Risan. Gusts reach 250 km/h and can lead to a significant fall of temperatures in several hours with freezing events problematic for most of the Mediterranean cultures. Bora weather situations are frequent and sailors keep an eye on the mountains as cap clouds indicate an imminent Bora event. Scirocco is a warm humid rain and is important as it brings heavy rain. It appears throughout the year but is usually concentrated in autumn and spring.

Station	Period	Height ^*	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	I-XII ^*
Herceg Novi	1961-1984	40	230	221	183	135	130	73	28	45	160	181	326	262	1974
Risan	1961-1984	40	405	342	340	235	153	101	66	123	188	295	423	434	3105
Grahovo	1961-1984	710	351	324	305	251	142	94	55	103	202	416	508	473	3224
Podvrsnik	1961-1984	630	407	398	367	305	151	101	77	132	238	465	593	586	3820
Vrbanje	1961-1984	1010	472	390	388	321	181	104	70	122	224	369	565	536	3742
Knezlaz	1961-1984	620	547	472	473	373	207	120	72	136	268	400	629	661	4358
Crkvice	1961-1984	940	610	499	503	398	198	135	82	155	295	502	714	683	4774
Ivan. Korita	1960-1984	1350	434	460	742	472	128	198	74	46	94	300	694	972	4614
Goli vrh	1893-1913	1311	271	286	307	226	188	148	75	70	215	473	415	327	3129
Jankov vrh	1890-1909	1017	424	386	389	346	212	124	55	58	202	484	579	501	3750
Cetinje	1961-1984	655	434	357	367	288	164	92	72	118	209	306	489	498	3394
Grab-Zubci	1934-1960	677	333	325	257	195	183	83	59	86	173	360	447	485	2985
Trebinje	1931-1960	276	193	190	160	102	119	70	43	76	110	239	247	249	1762
Dubrovnik	1931-1960	49	147	113	102	92	79	60	24	38	97	156	213	186	1307

* monthly and yearly precipitation ranges in Dalmatia, Herzegovina and Montenegro

Gallery

Image:Man savina.jpg|Savina monastery in Boka Image:Cathedral Kotor.JPG|Cathedral of Saint Tryphon (Sv. Tripun) in Kotor Image:Islands Perast.JPG|The two islands off Perast Image:Church Perast.JPG|Church in Perast

Literature

Prof. Lazo M. Kostić, O srpskom karakteru Boke Kotorske, Herceg Novi, 1994.
Vasko Kostić, Svetosavska ozarenost nevjeste Jadrana, Kult Svetog Save u Boki, Novi Sad, 1999.

External links

Boka Kotorska | Geography of Montenegro

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