On Sunday, we drove to Croatia. It is not a long drive, just curvy and over the mountains and around the Bay of Kotor. The bay is one of my favorite places in Montenegro. Nestled in a corner of this bay is Perast.
Interestingly, this town has a unique relationship with Russia. At the end of XVII Century, the first naval school, in which the sixteen Russian aristocrats learned nautics, was founded, and it was directed by Marco Martinovich.
Perast historically was a significant nautical center due to its stategic position on the Bay of Kotor. The first mention of a shipyard dates back to 1336. In 1600, this tiny town had 40 big vessels and over 100 smaller sailing boats. Today it is hard to imagine so much activity occurred in this quiet, tiny town.
Perast residents were forced to learn the fine art of defense. In 1624, marauding pirates from North Africa invaded and robbed Perast and took citizens into slavery. Thirty years later, the citizens defended the town from an offensive by the Turks in the Perast Battle of 1654. The good citizens of Perast then used their fighting skills to liberate the towns of Risan in 1684 and Herceg Novi in 1687 from the Turks.
The tallest campanile or belfry on the Bay of Kotor is located in Perast and stands next to the Church of St. Nikola.
5 comments:
Oh Jill, the last two photos are just so perfectly peaceful! You are such a good photographer. And.. it is so refreshing for me to see so much beauty around.
beautiful pics Jill!!
i'm sure we drove close to that town, but it was the middle of the night! :( maybe this summer when we come we can stop thru there!
Thanks ladies, It is not hard to take a good picture here -- point and shoot!!! It is definitely a beautiful place to live. Ann Marie -- it is a definite must to tour the coast in the day time!!
ok..... we want to come visit! ;)
Wallace, come on over! May is a beautiful time here. You will never run out of places to take pictures! Thanks for all your comments -- appreciate them.
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