Historical background

The medieval city of Kotor, bordered by fortress walls was, through the centuries, the cultural and trade center of Kotor bay. This bay is one of the most magnificent “fjords” on the Mediterranean and is flanked by an exceptionally rich variety of cultural monuments from all ages.

The bio-geographical conditions of the Kotor region favoured the emergence and development of a succession of civilizations and cultures. The earliest signs of civilization in this region are Neolithic artifacts found in the Spila cave; there are also cave paintings in the Lipici grotto. Burial mounds and the ruins of the town of Teuta are all that remain of the Illyrian civilization that flourished here in the 3^rd century B. C. Next sailors and traders of the Hellenic age established a trading post. They were followed by the Romans who built a fort for one of their military units. From this period there remains a mosaic floor, of a 3^rd century Roman villa, that depicts Hypnos the Roman God of sleep.

Naturally protected by a steep cliff from inland attack as well as by the sea, Kotor successfully survived the great barbarian migrations of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. From the time of Justinian I, it became one of the Byzantine strongholds on the Adriatic sea. The remains of an Episcopal basilica to St. Mary of the River discovered near the city gates illustrates the importance of Kotor in the 6^th century.

At the end of the 12^th century Kotor, as Serbia’s main port and economic and cultural centre, had a powerful influence on the development of education, the arts and crafts; a grammar school was established in the 13^th century and a school of fine arts in the 14^th century.

In this period between 12^th and 14^th centuries the Byzantine ramparts were reinforced and a great number of houses, palaces of the aristocracy and churches were constructed in the Romanesque and Romanesque-Gothic styles. The great St. Tryphon cathedral was built in the style of the Romanesque basilicas of southern Italy; it houses the town’s patron saint St.Tryphon. The domed, single-nave basilica of St.Luke was built and decorated with frescoes in 1195; the church of St. Mary of the River, with a dome and roof of stone slabs, was built in 1221; the little church of St. Anne’s dates from the same period as St. Paul’s church built in 1263.

From the 15^th to the 18^th century Kotor was ruled by Venice. With the rise of Turkish power in the Balkans Kotor was forced to adapt its old fortifications for defense against firearms.

Due to big earthquakes in the 16^th and 17^th centuries a great number of architecturally significant buildings were damaged. The remains were later incorporated into new Baroque style structures.

A strong earthquake in 1979 damaged many buildings in Kotor; it also provided an opportunity to examine the town’s architectural past and led to an investigation of its origins. As a result of the earthquake Kotor was added to the List of Endangered World Cultural Heritage Sites during a conference in Cairo, held in October 1979. Its dossier number in Paris is 125/79.

Kotor town has, among other things problems with: water supply; salt water intrusion; sewage; waste-water treatement and disposal; marine pollution; flood control in the old part of the town and solid waste treatement and disposal. These problems need to be tackled with the preservation of Kotor’s unique cultural heritage in mind.