Bay of Kotor

Map
Infos
Name:	Bay of Kotor, Boka Kotorska (sr)
Position:	Montenegro, Croatia
Rivers:	Karst hydrology, Sopot, Skurda submerged sources
Destination:	Sea
Settlements:	Kotor, Herceg Novi, Risan, Tivat, Dobrota, Perast
Records:	Biggest 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 (Bay of Kotor, Bocche di Cattaro) in western Montenegro, at the border with Croatia, is a winding bay on the Adriatic sea.

The bay was considered by some to be Europe's southernmost fjord. In fact it is a submerged river canyon of the once called Bokeljska reka which run from the high mountain plateaux of Mount Orjen. Very intensive tectonics and karstification processes led to the disintegration of the river system. After heavy rain the famous waterfall of Sopot spring at Risan appears. The Bay is composed of several smaller broad gulfs, united by narrower channels, forming one of the finest natural harbours in Europe.

History

The close by hamlet of Risan (Risano), was a thriving Illyrian city of 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 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, until becoming a semi-independent republic under the 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 into Illyrian provinces, which were part of the French Empire. The region was later annexed by the Austrian Empire and was included into province of Dalmatia.

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

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

Since 1918, Boka Kotorska was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to 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 Boka Kotorska was occupied by fascist Italy in 1941, and since 1945, it is part of the Republic of Montenegro, except peninsula of Privlaka at the western side of the entrance in the bay, that is part of Croatia.

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

Boka Kotorska region is under protection of UNESCO, due to its very rich cultural heritage. The region around the town of Kotor is situated in probably the most beautiful fjord in Europe. 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 the assimilation, the population of the Croats began to diminish since 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 this, 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 Serb tribe) and Docleans (for whom is not explicitly stated were they Serbs by origin, but later they are also considered to be Serbs).

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

During the history, there were 3 Orthodox monasteries and 250 Orthodox churches in Boka, most of whom still exist.

Croats

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

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

In 1991 there were 8% of Croats in Boka Kotorska region, and in 2003 the percent of Croats was 7.61%.

The Bokelj Marine 809 (Bokeljska mornarica 809) is a confraternity 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 new 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 extremely difficult moments in 1654 when the attacks of the Turks were especially dangerous. Their brave and successful defense of Boka was the reason of the arrival of Petar Zrinski, a famous Croatian statesman, who also had numerous dramatic battles with the Turks. During his three day sojourn in Perast he presented his legendary sword to the town, as the sign of his recognition to their efforts to defend their homeland, and to stop the approach of the Ottoman Empire to Middle Europe.

Geography

Historic map of the Bay, 16th century

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 plateaux 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 (monastiry Savina), standing amid beautiful gardens. It was founded in the 16th century, and contains many fine specimens of 17th century silversmith work. There is a Benedictine monastery on a small island opposite to Perast (Perasto), eight miles east of Herceg Novi. Perast itself was for a time an independent state in the 14th century.

Climate

Meteorological station on Orjen in the hinterland of the Bay

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. Like the monsoon rain is seasonally distributed, thus 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 water one of the biggest karst springs, the Sopot spring, is a remarkable indicator of this seasonality. Most of the time it is inactive but after heavy rain a remarkable waterfall appears 20 m above the Bay of Kotor.

Station	Height [m]	Type	Character	Precipitation [mm]	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 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 eminent Bora event. Scirocco is a warm humid rain and is important as it brings heavy rain. It appears throughout the year but is usually centered in autumn and spring.

Station	Period	Height [m]	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	XI	XII	I-XII [mm/m²a]
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

• Savina monastery in Boka
  Savina monastery in Boka
• 
  Cathedral of Saint Tryphon (Sv. Tripun) in Kotor
• 
  The two islands off Perast
• 
  Church in Perast

Literature

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

External links

• Information and Pictures of Boka Kotorska
• Boka Kotorska - Census 2003.
• Tourist agency page
• Kotor based photographer Stevan Kordić
• Best Pictures of the Boka Kotorska
• Foundation for Culture and Tradition of Boka Kotorska "Project Rastko-Boka"
• Foundation Rastko-Boka News
• Boka Kotorska