Kotor, Montenegro 6/26/24

Kotor, Montenegro 


Kotor, Montenegro was a beautiful mountainous bay area, and our excursion was to a place called Boka Bay.

Heading to the town of Perast, which is about 1 mile long, and has 17 churches in this small Adriatic jewel. In the bay you can see the twin islands of St George and Our Lady of the Rocks. Both are religious pilgrimage sites, but Our Lady of the Rocks is a man-made island founded over 600 years ago.





Our Lady of the Rocks, according to legend, was made over centuries by local seaman who kept an ancient oath after two brothers found the icon of Madonna and Child on the rock in the sea on July 22, 1452.  One of the brothers was injured but was healed the next day and vowed to build a church.  Upon returning from each successful voyage, the seaman laid a rock in the bay.  Over time, the islet gradually emerged from the sea.  The custom of throwing rocks is alive today, and every July 22, local residents take their boats and throw rocks into the sea.  



The silver panels are made of of small icons from grateful families and seamen for blessing them and protecting them on their sea travels.  The panels represent their trades.



The top right picture is a tapestry done by a lady who was waiting for her husband to return from his sea journey.  It took her 25 years, has gold threads in it, along with some of her hair.  He never returned and she eventually lost her eyesight.  It is quite remarkable, and the picture does not do it justice.



This is the charming twn of Perast that we strolled through and had a cocktail by the sea.





After our tour, we went into the city of Kotor, I got a pedicure with wine, and then we went and had mussels and more wine for lunch, toasting our niece Grayson who was getting married the next day.



Kotor was a really pretty place and like so many of the beautiful places that we’ve seen, it seems like we never have enough time to really enjoy what it has to offer. Our next port, Valletta, Malta, will prove to be a port that you not only want to re-visit, but you never want to leave!



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