Welcome to Kotor, Montenegro’s medieval Balkan town that’s a cat lover’s dream

Enter Montenegro’s medieval previous city of Kotor, wedged between craggy mountains within the nook of a breath-taking, secluded bay off the Adriatic Sea, and it’s not the centuries-old stone partitions you’ll discover first. Neither is it the good-looking 1602 baroque-style clock tower or the Venetian, café-strewn most important sq.. It gained’t be San Giovanni fortress spied far within the distance and even the rugged limestone cliffs of Mount Lovćen that hover above.

No, the very first thing you’ll discover in Kotor are all of the cats. Lots of to be a bit extra exact. Weave between the previous city’s medieval maze of museums, outlets, bars and eating places and a bowl of biscuits could be discovered on many avenue corners, usually accompanied by a posse of well-fed felines.

That’s as a result of right here in Kotor – considered one of Montenegro’s hottest and picturesque locations – cats convey you luck. Or so says Oxana Troshina, Kotor resident and proprietor of Cats of Kotor, the primary cat-themed memento store to open its doorways within the previous city again in 2012.

Greater than 10 years later and lots of extra cat-devoted outlets have adopted go well with, with the addition of a devoted cat museum, who say they feed the feline inhabitants with a few of their income. This is without doubt one of the some ways cats get their meals and board in Kotor, with a community of residents sharing the accountability – notably within the colder winter months when the cats are invited inside houses, says Oxana.

“Cats are an indication of fine luck,” she provides. “Many aged individuals in Kotor will let you know they’ve all the time beloved cats. Even a few years in the past, possibly the center of the twentieth century, all their doorways would have [cat flaps] particularly for the cats so these visitors can all the time are available in the home.”

Theories for a way this obsession developed are up for dialogue. After surviving wars, sieges and earthquakes – together with one which devasted Kotor 44 years in the past this April – some consider cats have helped to avoid wasting the city through the years.

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Others say the fortunate charms had been dropped at Kotor by sailors, who docked their feline-filled ships within the Bay of Kotor throughout a revolt by the Austro-Hungarian navy in 1918 referred to as the ‘Cattaro mutiny’ – coincidently (or possibly not) Kotor was traditionally referred to as the Italian ‘Cattoro’, from when the town was as soon as underneath Venetian rule.

“Kotor was constructed by the Venetian Republic and the image of the Venetian Republic is a lion, in order that they have all the time been revered,” Oxana provides, referring to the Patron of Venice, the Lion of Saint Mark.

Charity Kotor Kitties additionally helps to feed and medicate stray cats. Arrange by visiting vacationers in 2018, the group launched a spaying and neutering programme in an try to chop again on the overpopulation of avenue cats within the space. In 2022, they registered as a Montenegrin charity and since founding have raised funds to neuter 8,862 cats (as of April 2023).

“It’s important to maintain the inhabitants of the road cats at a stage the place they’ll dwell in good well being with sufficient meals and medical assets to outlive,” a Kotor Kitties spokesperson says. “A cat inhabitants which is unchecked is extra vulnerable to illness and meals assets could be scarce.”

These desirous to discover every thing else Kotor has to supply gained’t be upset, both. The previous city is entered by an impressive, pink-tinged stone sea gate, which types a part of the broader Venetian fortification that dates again to the twelfth century. This consists of San Giovanni fortress, which is perched 280m above sea stage on the prime of a mountain, overlooking the previous city. Hike up for views of Kotor’s royal blue and turquoise bay.

An untapped vacation spot for each its native meals and wine, most eating places are stocked with homegrown produce and recent seafood that’s caught every day from the encompassing shoreline. Strive their conventional garlic-stuffed squid, served up with Swiss chard and potatoes and a bottle of home purple, with the area greatest identified for its Vranac grape selection that produces intense and ruby-hued wines.

Amble alongside the stalls that line the doorway of the previous city and check out tasters of a number of the arrays of smoky, cured meats and wealthy cheese on supply. Pots of dry fruits and nuts preserved in honey and bottles of their do-it-yourself walnut or cherry native rakija spirit can even doubtless be on sale.

For historical past buffs, Kotor’s previous city additionally has double Unesco world heritage standing (being a part of each the pure and culturo-historical area of Kotor and the Venetian works of defence between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries) and has among the best preserved medieval previous cities within the Adriatic. This, regardless of being badly broken by the 1979 earthquake, explains Vlasta Mandic, an architect and native meals professional who runs meals excursions within the area and who helped restore the previous city.

“After ending my research, I returned to Kotor. This was after 1979, simply after the large earthquake,” she says. “I labored on the restoration of the previous Kotor, which later turned a part of Unesco cultural heritage. My speciality was the reconstruction and adaptation of previous stone buildings, in addition to the creation of [some of] the inside and exterior and the horticulture.”

She too is cat lover, naturally, talking of how its residents convey happiness to the cats, having “lived collectively for hundreds of years”. Little question that whereas Unesco standing will shield the city’s preservation for a few years to return, Kotor’s cats can even be at hand to convey their very own breed of luck and maintain a watchful eye on its historical lanes.

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Journey necessities

Getting there

EasyJet flies direct from London Gatwick to Tivat; Kotor is a half-hour drive from there.

Staying there

There’s a wide selection of lodging out and in of the previous city. Rooms and residences can be found overlooking the principle sq. comparable to Resort Vardar.

Extra data

Overseas guests should register on the vacationer workplace and pay a vacationer tax (charged at €1 per individual per night time) inside 24 hours of their arrival.