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The natural and cultural historic region of Kotor
The Kotor natural, cultural and historical region is composed of an unusually harmonious blend of natural and man-made phenomena. It includes part of the Gulf of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), where it is narrowest (340 meters) and cuts most deeply into the mainland (33 km). Originally, this part of the gulf was a river valley, tectonically sunken and flooded, and its morphological characteristics (marked vertical segmentation) make it unique in the Mediterranean. It belongs to the Dinaric zone of the holokarst (deep seated rocks), and the area surrounding the gulf and its hinterland exhibit the most typical types of karstic formation and karstic hygrography.
The area of the region amounts to 12 000 hectares, 2 600
of which are covered by the sea. The exceptionally favorable
and unusual climatic, morphological, hydrographical and
hydrological conditions, together with the abundance and
variety of flora and fauna, have been decisive factors regarding
the settlement of this area and the construction of towns
and villages of a particular type. As a result we find here
a unique harmony between the works of nature and those of
mankind.
The towns and villages which make up the Kotor region form
ten characteristic complexes which are linked in an almost
uninterrupted chain: Dobrota, Orahovac, Risan, Perast, Morinj,
Kostanjica, Stoliv (Upper and Lower), Prcanj, Muo and Skaljari.
Replacing the ancient Roman site of Risan, which, until
the present day, has preserved traces of large buildings,
inscriptions and mosaics from Roman villas, Kotor became
during the Middle Ages the center of the region.
The city of Kotor is surrounded by the protective ramparts
which descend from the top of the Mount of St. Ivan (260
meters), skirting the two short streams, Skurda and Gurdic,
with their movable bridges and embankment. This continuous
system of fortifications, which follows for about 5 km the
irregular line of the steeply sloping range of hills, is,
strategically and aesthetically, the most important and
impressive part of the town setting. Of thirty churches,
recorded or still standing in the old town, four belonging
to the Romanesque period are particularly important (St.
Luka’s, 1195; St. Anna’s, probably 1195; St.
Mary of the River, 1221; St. Michael’s, 1266) aside
from the Cathedral of St. Tryphon (1166).
A distinctive feature of the old town's urban nucleus is
a cluster of twelve squares of varying size whose irregular
beauty provides relief from the narrow, closed-in, winding
streets. These squares had a specific purpose; the largest
and architecturally best designed is the “Square of
Arms” near the main gates of the Town (the Medieval
Arsenal), where a series of impressive edifices are to be
found: the Medieval “Turris Torturae”, the “Clock
Tower” of 1602, also the “Prince’s Place”,
unfinished, in Renaissance-Baroque style.
The typical vaulted shops with “jointed” entrance
doors bear witness to Kotor’s importance as a center
for craftsmanship. The exceptional artistic value of the
marble altars, icons and other paintings, sculptures, silverware,
elegant ecclesiastic robes, as well as fragment of frescos
that have been preserved, must also be stressed.
During the 17th and 18th century, Kotor lost its economic
lead, eclipsed by the surrounding maritime settlements,
especially Perast, Dobrota, Prcanj and Stoliv which nevertheless
remained in close contact with the administrative and cultural
center. Each settlement took on its own urban and cultural
personality, at the same time maintaining the unity and
continuity of the regional cultural heritage.
Religious architecture developed, imbued with styles characteristic
of this period, while in the field of secular architecture
the houses of Boka transmute into local forms of Western
Mediterranean and, to a certain extent, Oriental influences.
Elegant palaces for the nobility are prominent features
of this secular architecture, particularly in Perast, Prcanj
and Dobrota.