KFC Travelblog: 2023 Balkans - Day 2 Herceg Novi Bay

We began our program today with a lecture by Sandra, a local expert on the history and present-day life in Montenegro.

Today is Victory Day in Montenegro, the day on which Russia and some former Soviet countries observe the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Montenegro has been settled or occupied by: Neolithic tribes, Illyrians, Romans, Slavs, Byzantines, Serbian medieval state, Ottomans, Venetians, French, Austro-Hungarians, Berlin Congress, Kingdom of Serbia Croatia Slovenia, Axis powers and Yugoslavia.

Marshall Josip Tito was able to build and hold a united Yugoslavia for nearly 40 years. Was first communist leader to defy Soviet dictates, promoting a policy of non-alignment between the two blocs of the Cold War. Yugoslavia joined neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact. But Yugoslavia needed a strongman like Tito to keep its various factions in equilibrium. Seven years after he died in 1980, civil war erupted between the Yugoslavian republics.

When the dust settled, seven countries had been formed from the former Yugoslavia: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Albania and Northern Macedonia.

(Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Independence of the former Serbian province is recognized by most, but not all, countries. It is not a member of the UN. To dissent from some members of our group, Sandra compared its situation to that of the Crimea. She said that if allowed to vote, the majority of Kosovo citizens would elect to remain Serbian.)

SO -

Montenegro first achieved independence in 1878

Became part of Yugoslavia in 1918 after World War I

2006 - independence from Serbia

Joined NATO in 2017

Not in EU - yet. But application process is underway

Euro is currency

Flag includes double-headed eagle, symbol of a former government

Known as “Jewel of the Adriatic”

One of the world’s fastest growing tourism economies

Beautiful scenery. Towering mountains (8313 ft), cascading rivers, deepest canyon in Europe, crystal clear seas.

70% of country is mountainous

Was once covered by forests; still predominantly forest in the north

Has ancient history and culture

Montenegro means Black Mountain - name first used by Venetians in 13th century.

Small country, slightly smaller than Connecticut

- 520,000 population in 2011

- Ethinic groups: Montenegrin (45%), Serbs ((29%), Bosniacs, Muslim, Albanians, Croats, Roma

- Religious groups: Orthodox Christian (72%), Catholic, Islam (16%), Muslims, Atheist

- New census overdue. 2021 census delayed by COVID. Now delayed by government as factions try to agree on whether and how to record ethnic/religious groupings. (Ethnic identity, going back centuries and sometimes more a matter of family tradition, culture and self-identify than actual genetic makeup, has been the source of conflict and resentment for centuries. It’s partly self-fabricated, as there have been so much mixed-marriage and integration over millennia.)

Education

- Free from 6-18.

- Elementary school compulsory, high school optional but most continue

- English taught from first grade. Second language added in 6th grade

- Cyrillic and Latin alphabets are both acceptable. Taught Cyrillic first, then Latin alphabet added later.

In answer to questions from our group, Sandra said that Montenegrins have the same big-picture concerns about the future as we do (her examples): climate change, artificial intelligence, space travel, young people using phones for social media and not the power of knowledge they are carrying around. But as she pointed out, they are a tiny country with a tiny influence. She hopes that large countries with large resources and influences can do the right things.

Our brains were full. And this is only the introduction to the complicated history of the Balkans.

WALKING TOUR

After a short break, we took an 8 minutes bus ride to a view point halfway up the steep slopes of Herceg Novi. Founded in 1382, the city was formerly called Castel Nuovo (new castle) due to its many fortresses.

The town is appropriately known as the “city of stairs”. There are lots of them - mostly old and a little slippery, mostly without handrails. Armed with walking sticks, we worked our way down the hillside.

The notorious Kanli Kula (“bloody tower”) fortress.

Except for watching one’s step, the streets are pretty safe - no vehicular traffic can get through the twisty, steep lanes.

Main square and clock tower.

The clock tower was built in 1667 by the order of Turkish Sultan Mahmoud near a (now long gone) mosque. It was designed with mechanical clocks on several sides, to show the time for Muslim daily prayers.

The pretty little church of Archangel Mihaila (Michael) is made of Croatian stone.

Like all Eastern Orthodox churches, the alter is hidden behind the iconostasis (a wall of icons and religious paintings). There are no pews, as the worshippers stand during the service.

A museum of anchors retrieved from the bay was planned here, but progress is stalled.

The bastion of Forte Mere was built between the 14th and 17th centuries. An Austrian do-over in 1833 gave it its present look.

We had lunch at Konoba Feral, a seafood restaurant on the Pet Danica promenade we walked along yesterday.

- lightly fried calamari and octopus, seafood tagliatelle and a scoop of something resembling seafood paella

- I should have taken a photo of the food

Boat excursion in the Adriatic around Herceg Novi Bay

Looking back towards Herceg Novi as we headed to the island of Mamula

The small island of Mamula is just visible from our hotel.

- 19th century Austrian circular fort covers most of the island

- used as a concentration camp during World War II, especially for prisoners from the surrounding area. Known for torture and cruelty.

- now being carefully restored and converted - against the protests of those once imprisoned there - into a luxury beach resort

During the 1970s, the Yugoslav military built camouflaged submarine tunnels along the coast of Montenegro to hide their small boats and submarines from spy planes and satellites.