On the western side of the Ulcinj coast, in the town of Kruce, there are ruins believed to be the remains of the ancient city of Ulcinj. This bay is a very important place precisely because of its thousand-year-old rich history. It is precisely because of its historical treasures that this place is increasingly visited by tourists. Besides the Illyrian ramparts of the Old Town, Kruče is the most valuable archaeological site of Ulcinj.
History of Kruch
The ruins are first mentioned in 1376 under the name Old Ulcinj, and sources from Venice call the site Dulcigno Vecchio. It is believed that the settlement that once stood on this site sank during an earthquake in 444 BC. Various archaeological studies have established that in ancient times there was a communications station on this ridge, and in the Middle Ages there was a fortress here that served as an observation post.
Appearance of Kruch
The ramparts are one of the surviving remains of the fortifications on the rock and are located on the north side, and inside them the remains of smaller houses have been discovered. On the east side is a 12th or 13th century church with a walled underground tomb. Remains of ceramic vessels from the ancient period were discovered throughout the area.
What to see in Krucha?
In Kuce Bay, researchers found the remains of large country houses that wealthy Ulcinj nobles built as summer cottages. This place was chosen precisely because of the beautiful nature and the phenomenal view of the open sea from here. That is why in this place you can find large and wonderful olive groves and vineyards. It is believed that some houses were built as early as the 6th century AD precisely because of the remains of mosaics and ceramics found, as well as coins from the era of Justinian, Justinian and Anastasius.
Valdanos Bay
Valdanos Bay is located just 5 km from Ulcinj in the northwest. This bay was once a famous military resort as well as a pirate port. It is believed that the remains of sunken ancient and medieval ships can be found in this bay. The Gulf of Valdanos is located between the two hills of Mendre and Mavrihan and is an olive reserve, as there are about 80,000 olive trees in this area. The bay has been declared a natural monument.
Importance of Valdanos Bay
The bay consists of a beautiful beach 367 meters long. The olive trees in Valdanos are extremely important and represent the largest living monument of olive cultivation in Montenegro. There are about 18,000 trees in this area that are about 800 years old, as well as many trees that are over 2,000 years old. Valdanos Bay is also home to the endemic meadow sea flower, which is also commonly known as sea grass, vog or lazina. This herb grows only in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas is located in the city of Ulcinj called Meteriži and is surrounded by hundred-year-old olive trees. There are records that the church was built in 1890, but it turned out that in the 15th century there was an Orthodox monastery dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas is an important stronghold of Christianity in this coastal part of Montenegro, and its interior contains valuable frescoes.
History of the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas
The Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Ulcinj has a long history. As a building, it was built in 1890, but there was an Orthodox monastery on this site from the 15th century. After the monastery, around 1670, after the Kandy War, a mosque was built near the northern entrance to the Old City. When the Montenegrins occupied Ulcinj in 1880, on the site of an abandoned and destroyed mosque, they built this church in honor of the heroes who died in 1878 during the liberation of Ulcinj.
Ada Boyana is a river island at the confluence of the Boyana River and the Adriatic Sea. Ada Boyana is located in the extreme southeast of Montenegro, right next to the border with Albania. The island was created artificially and is located on an area of about 5 square kilometers. This attraction is the most popular attraction on the entire coast of Montenegro due to its beauty, as well as the famous nudist settlement, which is skillfully hidden from view.
The story of Ada Bojana
According to legend, Ada Boyana was created in the 17th or 19th century after a storm. It is believed that the ship ran aground during a storm, and over the years, two nearby islands gradually became a sandbar, then an island due to the deposition of river sediment. Thus, the island divided the Boyana River into two parts. The island was a military zone during the Cold War, and even today parts of it are completely untouched.
The monastery is located on the island of the same name Beshka, in Lake Skadar, in a place called Doni Murici. The monastery has belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Church since the 14th century and the Montenegrin-Littoral Metropolis.
History of the Beshka Monastery
The monastery church, donated by Djurad II Stracimirovich-Balšić, is dedicated to St. George, and the temple dedicated to the Annunciation is a donation from his wife Jelena Balšić, daughter of Prince Lazar.
The significance of the Beshka monastery
For the monastery, the Jerusalem cleric Nikon wrote a book of spiritual guidance, known as the Goritsky Collection. At the beginning of the century, the Church of the Virgin Mary was restored by King Nikola for the health of his wife Milena and dedicated to the Shroud of the Blessed Virgin Mary, since the Gorica collection was not yet known. Her grave is in the Church of the Virgin Mary.
Its founders, Đuraj II and Jelena Balšić, are also buried in the church. Jelena Balšić was canonized in 2006 by the decision of the Montenegrin-Littoral Metropolis.
What is worth seeing in the vicinity of the Beshka Monastery?
In the vicinity of Beshka there are also the following sacred shrines:
Starčeva Gorica is a monastery dedicated to the Mother of God.
Morachnik Monastery
The Palace of King Nikola is located on the King Nikola embankment, near the center of Bar. The real name of the castle is Vila Topolica, which was given to it by Petar Karađorđević in honor of the city of Topola in Serbia. This magnificent building was built on the seashore, today it houses the Native Museum and is used for gallery, exhibition and musical stage purposes.
History of King Nikola’s Castle
The central place of the former summer residence of King Nikola is occupied by a palace built in 1883. The palace was built on the ruins of the villa of the last Turkish lord, Bar Selim Bey Mustafagić. After the liberation of Bar, King Nikola gave this plot to his daughter Princess Zorka and son-in-law Prince Peter Karađorđević.
What is a must-see at King Nikola’s Castle?
If you have the opportunity to visit the castle, we advise you to examine its belongings.
Large castle — the building was built in the spirit of residential buildings of that time. It has a rectangular base with a façade facing the sea. Consists of a ground floor, second floor and attic. Today, the Grand Castle houses the Native Museum and in it you can see the original appearance of some of the premises.
The small castle, also facing the sea, is reminiscent of the villas built around lakes in Northern Italy.
Palace Chapel – The chapel is a small building with a porch on metal pillars. It is located between the Big and Small Castles and is built of metal plates.
The Winter Garden is a gift from King Emmanuel of Italy and is constructed of a glazed metal structure with Art Nouveau decorative details.
Opening hours of King Nikola’s Castle and ticket prices
Ticket price is 1 euro, for children under 10 years old – 0.50 cents.
Opening hours twice a season: from 9 to 15 and from 17 to 23 hours, and in the off-season from 9 to 15 hours.
Old Bar is one of the oldest settlements in Montenegro and a city with a long and turbulent history, around which many armies and conquerors broke their spears. Built in an unusual location for coastal towns, a few kilometers from the coast, Stari Bar is located on Londsha Hill, at the foot of Mount Rumia. Surrounded on three sides by impenetrable cliffs, the city was built on this site primarily to facilitate defense and access to fresh drinking water, which was supplied to the city from the north via an aqueduct built in the 14th to 16th centuries.
The city was constantly built and expanded throughout the centuries of its existence, and today you can see the remains of buildings of various architectures and styles. The oldest part of the city is the area around the gate, which is located on a protruding rock, and inside the city there are remains of numerous churches from different periods. You can see the remains of the Roman-Gothic Cathedral of St. George, as well as the two Gothic churches of St. Catherine and St. Veneranda. In the western part of the city there are remains of the Church of St. Nicholas, presumably built in the 13th century. The best preserved religious building is the Church of St. John Vladimir, located in the very center of the city.
The location of Old Bar gives visitors the opportunity to see the panorama of the green field of Bar, the new part of the city, the port, the open sea and the massif of Mount Rumia from the walls of the old ramparts. A special attraction of Stari Bar is the market, where vendors dressed in traditional costumes of the region offer customers local products such as citrus fruits, olives, olive oil, cheese and various local crafts.
Near Old Bar there is a place where one of the three oldest olive trees in the world grows, which is more than 2000 years old and which is the hallmark of the city of Bar. Many legends and traditions are associated with Staraya Maslina. According to one of them, under this tree, at a time when there was blood feud in this region, warring armies, brotherhoods and families made peace.
Stara Maslina is the most famous tree in Montenegro and a major tourist attraction.
The Stara Maslina tree is one of the oldest in Europe and the world; since 1957 it has been protected by law and declared a natural monument. The olive tree is over 2,000 years old and has been destroyed by fire twice in the past, but has always recovered and is still bearing fruit.
Medicinal olive oil is produced from the fruits of old olive trees. Olive oil from Bar is considered to be of very high quality. The old olive tree is located in the village of Mirovica, next to the main road Bar-Ulcinj, around which there are 7 more olive trees ranging from 500 to 700 years old.
According to one legend, under this tree, at a time when there was blood feud in Montenegro, warring families, brotherhoods and the army were reconciled.
During the reign of King Nicola, the condition for every boy from Bar wishing to get married was that the groom first had to plant 20 olive trees. Indeed, today there are more than 40,000 olive trees in the Bar area.