Architecture of Montenegro - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The architecture of Montenegro is a mixture of many influences, from Roman and Venetian to Ottoman and modern times.

Characteristics

Montenegro

Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...

has a number of significant cultural and historical sites, including heritage sites from the pre-Romanesque

Romanesque art

Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...

, Gothic

Gothic art

Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...

and Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

periods.

The Montenegrin coastal region is especially well known for its religious monuments, including the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

The Cathedral of Saint Tryphon in Kotor is one of two Roman Catholic cathedrals in Montenegro. It is the seat of the Croatian Catholic Bishopric of Kotor which covers the entire gulf, currently led by Bishop Mons...

, the basilica of St. Luke (over 800 years), Our Lady of the Rock (Škrpjela), the Savina Monastery

Savina monastery

Savina Monastery is a Serb Orthodox monastery near the city Herceg Novi in Boka Kotorska, and is made of thick Mediterranean vegetation in one of the most beautiful parts of the northern Montenegrin coast. It was built by the Duke of Saint Sava, Stjepan Vukčić Kosača of Herzegovina...

, the Cetinje Monastery

Cetinje Monastery

The Cetinje Monastery is the most famous Serb Orthodox monastery in Montenegro. It is located in Cetinje and is the seat of the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral and its name derives from Saint Peter of Cetinje...

and others.

This area, sometimes called Venetian Montenegro

Albania Veneta

Venetian Albania was the name for the possessions of the Venetian Republic in southern Dalmatia that existed from 1420 to 1797. It originally covered the coastal area of what is now northern Albania and the coast of Montenegro, but the Albanian and southern Montenegrin parts were lost to the...

, is full of Venetian architecture

Venetian Gothic architecture

Venetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain and early...

, mainly in Cattaro (Kotor

Kotor

Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....

) and Perasto (Perast

Perast

Perast is an old town in Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It is situated a few kilometres northwest of Kotor.- Geography :...

): the ancient city of Cattaro is listed on the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

World Heritage list.

The Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

influence in architecture and in religious artwork is especially apparent in the country's interior.

The majority of architecture of Montenegro is Byzantine, Latin or Venetian (Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque) and Ottoman.

The architecture of "Storica Cattaro" (venetian for "Stari Kotor")

Four centuries of Venetian domination have given the city the typical Venetian architecture, that contributed to make Kotor a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

world heritage site.
The Venetian

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

fortification system of Kotor (that venetians called "Cattaro"), which protects it from the sea, is actually a wall 4.5 km long, 20 m high and 15 m wide, and is preserved as one of the world's historic values by the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

.

The construction of the ramparts were built and rebuilt up to the XVIII century. The oldest town gate of Cattaro, of the three existing in the town, is the “South” gate which was partially constructed in the IX century. The “North” and the “Main” gates were build in the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

style by the first half of the XVI century. The most representative monument of Roman architecture in the Adriatic is the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

Cathedral of Saint Tryphon

, constructed in 1166 and built on the remains of the former temple from the IX century. There are the remains of the frescos from the XIV century and the valuable treasury with domestic and Venetian golden works dating from the XIV to the XX century.

Besides the Cathedral, in the heart of the old town, there are magnificent examples of sacral architecture originating from XII till XX century:

The Romanic church of St. Lucas was built in 1195, while the Romanic church of St. Ana dates from the end of the XII century and has frescos dating back from the XV century.
The Romanic church of St. Mary dates from 1221. The church contains the remains of a monumental fresco painting as well as an early Christian baptistry.-
The Gothic church of St. Mihovil was built on the remains of the Benediction monastery from the VII century with frescos dating back from XV century.
St. Clara's church dates from the XIV century with the extremely beautiful marble altar, the work of Francesco Cabianca, from the XVIII century.
The Church of Lady of Health originates from the XV century.
The Orthodox Church of St. Nicolas was built by the beginning of the XX century with a valuable collection of icons.

There are also numerous palaces in venetian style in the Kotor Stari Grad:

The "Drago palace" with Gothic windows from the XV century; the "Bizanti palace" from the XVII century; the "Pima palace", with typical Venetian renaissance and baroque forms from the XVI century; the "Grubonia palace" with the built-in emblem of the old Kotor's pharmacy established in 1326; the "Gregurina palace", from the XVII century, which today contains the Naval museum, and finally the "Clock tower", from the XVI century, with the medieval pillory just beside it.

Characteristics

The architecture of "Storica Cattaro" (venetian for "Stari Kotor")

See also