Introduction
City on Montenegro's coast
This article is about the city. For the video game series, see Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. For other uses, see Kotor (disambiguation).
"Cattaro" redirects here. For other uses, see Cattaro (disambiguation).
Town and municipality in Coastal, MontenegroKotor
КоторTown and municipalityPanoramic view of Kotor and Kotor BayArms SquareSt. Nicholas ChurchKotor CathedralCity Walls
FlagCoat of armsKotorLocation within MontenegroCoordinates: 42°25′48″N 18°46′12″E / 42.43000°N 18.77000°E / 42.43000; 18.77000CountryMontenegroRegionCoastalMunicipalityKotorFounded5th century BCGovernment • TypeMayor-Assembly • MayorVladimir Jokić (DCG)Area • Municipality335 km2 (129 sq mi)Population (2023) • Urban13,347 • Rural8,569 • Municipality21,916Time zoneUTC+1 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Postal code85330Area code+382 32Vehicle registrationKOPatron saintSaint TryphonWebsitewww.opstinakotor.com
UNESCO World Heritage SitePart ofNatural and Culturo-Historical Region of KotorCriteriaCultural: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)Reference125terInscription1979 (3rd Session)Extensions2012, 2015
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, pronounced [kɔ̌tɔr]), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian, pronounced [ˈkattaro]), is a town in Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,347 and is the administrative center of Kotor Municipality.
The old Mediterranean port of Kotor is surrounded by fortifications built during the Venetian period. It is located on the Bay of Kotor (Boka Kotorska), one of the most indented parts of the Adriatic Sea, which constitutes a ria, meaning a submerged river canyon. Together with the nearly overhanging limestone cliffs of Orjen and Lovćen, Kotor and its surrounding area form the unique landscape.
Since the early 2000s Kotor has seen an increase in tourists, many of them coming by cruise ship. Visitors are attracted to the natural environment of the Bay of Kotor and the old town of Kotor. Kotor is part of the World Heritage Site dubbed the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor.
The fortified city of Kotor was also included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list as part of Venetian Works of Defence between 16th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar in 2017.
History
[edit]
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Historical affiliations
Illyria (9th century BCE – 33 BCE)
Roman Republic (33 BCE – 27 BCE)
Roman Empire (27 BCE – 476)
Odoacer's Kingdom of Italy (476 – 493)
Ostrogothic Kingdom (493 – 535)
Byzantine Empire (535 – 791)
Francia (791 – 812)
Byzantine Empire (812 – 1002)
First Bulgarian Empire (1002)
First Bulgarian Empire ( Dioclea) (1003)
Commune of Cattaro (1003 – 1185)
Grand Principality of Serbia (1185 – 1217)
Kingdom of Serbia (1217 – 1346)
Serbian Empire (1346 – 1371)
Kingdom of Hungary (1371 – 1382)
Republic of Venice (1382 – 1384)
Kingdom of Bosnia (1384 – 1391)
Commune of Cattaro (1391 – 1420)
Republic of Venice (1420 – 1797)
Holy Roman Empire (1797 – 1805)
First French Empire ( Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy) (1805 – 1810)
First French Empire ( Illyrian Provinces) (1810 – 1814)
United Kingdom (1814 – 1815)
Austrian Empire ( Kingdom of Dalmatia) (1815 – 1867)
Austria-Hungary ( Kingdom of Dalmatia) (1867 – 1918)
Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918 – 1941)
Kingdom of Italy ( Governorate of Dalmatia) (1941 – 1943)
Greater German Reich (1943 – 1944)
SFR Yugoslavia ( SR Montenegro) (1944 – 1992)
FR Yugoslavia ( Republic of Montenegro) (1992 – 2006)
Montenegro (2006 – present)
Early history[edit]
Once populated by the Illyrians, the exact time of foundation of the first settlement is not known. According to some sources, the oldest settled area dates two millennia back.
The city, first mentioned in 168 BC, was settled during ancient Roman times, when it was known as Acruvium, Ascrivium, or Ascruvium (Ancient Greek: Ἀσκρήβιον : Askrḗbion, Medieval Greek: Ἀσκρήβιον : Askrīvion) and was part of the Roman province of Dalmatia.
Middle Ages[edit]
The city has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, when Emperor Justinian built a fortress above Ascrivium in 535, after expelling the Ostrogoths. Ascrivium was plundered by the Saracens in 840. It was further fortified towards the peak of Saint Ivan by Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in the 10th century.
It was one of the more influential Dalmatian city-states, initially with a Romance-speaking population, as throughout the early Middle Ages, and until the 11th century the Dalmatian language was still spoken in Kotor. The city was part of Byzantine Dalmatia in that period, and the modern name of Kotor probably originated in the Byzantine name for the city: Dekatera or Dekaderon.
In 1002, the city suffered damage under the occupation of the First Bulgarian Empire, and in the following year it was ceded to Duklja by the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil. Duklja, or Dioclea, was a vassal duchy of the Bulgarian Empire at the time. The local population resisted the pact and, taking advantage of its alliance with Dubrovnik, maintained its high autonomy. Duklja, the biggest Serb duchy at the time, gradually became more powerful under Vojislavljević dynasty and eventually independent from Byzantium in 1040. The city remained autonomous up until Duklja was once again subdued by Byzantium in 1143.
The city was conquered in 1185 by Stefan Nemanja, the ruler of the Grand Principality of Serbia and founder of the Nemanjić dynasty. At that time Kotor was already an episcopal see subordinated to the archbishopric of Bari, and in the 13th century, Dominican and Franciscan monasteries were established to check the spread of Bogomilism. Under the rule of the Nemanjić, Kotor became a partially autonomous city, enjoying many privileges and maintaining its republican institutions. This is evidenced by a statute from 1301, which demonstrates that Kotor had the status of a city under Serbian rule. In the 14th century the commerce of Cattaro, as named in Latin scripts (in Serbian Котор, град краљев/Kotor, grad kraljev/Kotor, city of the King), rivaled that of Republic of Ragusa and other important trading cities in Eastern Adriatic. Kotor remained the most important trading port of subsequent Serb states – Kingdom of Serbia and Serbian Empire, up to its downfall in 1371.
After the fracturing of the Serbian Empire, the city was taken by the Kingdom of Hungary, only to change hands repeatedly between them and the Republic of Venice in the period between 1371 and 1384. After that, Kotor was held by the Kingdom of Bosnia under Tvrtko I Kotromanić between 1384 and 1391. The king of Bosnia, who claimed the Serbian throne, minted his coins in Kotor.
After the death of Tvrtko in 1391, Kotor became fully independent, until the administration, wary of the looming Ottoman danger, asked Venice for protection. The city acknowledged the suzerainty of Venice in 1420.
Venetian rule[edit]
Venetian Fortifications of Kotor, UNESCO site
The city was part of the Venetian Albania province of the Venetian Republic from 1420 to 1797.
Four centuries of Venetian domination have given the city the typical Venetian architecture, that contributes to make Kotor a UNESCO world heritage site.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, there was an influx of settlers from the oblasts of Trebinje (the region around forts Klobuk Ledenica and Rudina) and the Duchy of Saint Sava (Gacko and Dabar) to Kotor. The Italian name of the city is Cattaro. Under Venetian rule, Kotor was besieged by the Ottoman Empire in 1538 and 1657, endured the plague in 1572, and was nearly destroyed by earthquakes in 1563 and 1667.
In the 15th and 16th centuries, the customs of the local administration of Kotor, such as the right of the popolari to elect urban representatives, were unchanged and tolerated by the Provveditore of the city, despite Venetian laws prohibiting such institutions. In 1627, during a dispute between the populari and Kotor's nobility, this right was revoked by the consultare Fulgenzio Micanzio, thus empowering the position of the city's urban elite.
Above the entrance to the old city Kotor, is a stone relief with the emblem of Yugoslavia. Following the socialist revolution, it replaced a stone relief depiciting the Venetian lion of St. Mark.
Habsburg and Napoleonic rule[edit]
The Cathedral Square in Cattaro depicted by Rudolf von Alt, 1841
Napoleonic coins were minted in 1813 in Kotor
After the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, it passed to the Habsburg monarchy. However, in 1805, it was assigned to the French Empire's client state, the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, by the Treaty of Pressburg, although in fact held by a Russian squadron under Dmitry Senyavin. After the Russians retreated, Kotor was united in 1806 with this Kingdom of Italy and then in 1810 with the French Empire's Illyrian Provinces. Kotor was captured by the British in an attack on the Bay led by Commodore John Harper in the brig sloop HMS Saracen (18 guns). To seal off Kotor, residents along the shore literally pulled the ship in windless conditions with ropes. Saracen's crew later hauled naval 18-pounder guns above Fort St. John, the fortress near Kotor, and were reinforced by Captain William Hoste with his ship HMS Bacchante (38 guns). The French garrison had no alternative but to surrender, which it did on 5 January 1814.
It was restored to the Habsburgs by the Congress of Vienna. Until 1918, the town, then known as Cattaro, was head of the district of the same name, one of the 13 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Kingdom of Dalmatia.
World War I[edit]
Memorial plaque Cattaro mutiny at Kotor city hall
During World War I, Cattaro was one of three main bases of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the home port of the Austrian Fifth Fleet, consisting of pre-dreadnought battleships and light cruisers, and a base for Austrian and German submarines. The Cattaro mutiny of sailors of the Austro-Hungarian Navy occurred in Kotor starting on 1 February 1918. The mutiny remained isolated and had to be abandoned after three days due to the arrival of loyal troops. Four sailors were subsequently executed according to naval law.
The area was the site of some of the fiercest battles between local Montenegrins and Austria-Hungary. The city came under the allied occupation of the eastern Adriatic in 1918. After 1918, the city became a part of Yugoslavia and officially became known as Kotor.
World War II[edit]
Entrance of old city Kotor with post-World War II sign "What belongs to others we don't want, ours we don't give."
Between 1941 and 1943 the Kingdom of Italy annexed the area of Kotor which became one of three provinces of the Italian Governorate of Dalmatia – the Province of Cattaro had an area (subdivided in 15 "Comuni") of 547 km2 and a population of 39,800 inhabitants. Most of the city's inhabitants were Orthodox (with some Roman Catholics). After the war the remaining Dalmatian Italians of Kotor (300 inhabitants) left Yugoslavia towards Italy (Istrian-Dalmatian exodus).
