A Montenegrin resort on the Adriatic coast, Tivat has a long history. Archaeologists believe that it was founded three hundred years before the birth of Christ, and its name is consonant with the name of the then reigning Queen Teuta. She ruled over the ancient country of Illyria in the west of the Balkan Peninsula. In the Middle Ages, the city became an important religious center, due to the fact that the residence of the Metropolitan of the Principality of Zeta was located in a monastery near Tivat. Then there were years as part of the Venetian Republic, existence under French and Austrian rule and a socialist past as part of the SFRY. If you are planning to relax in Montenegro, be sure that there is something to see on the shores of the Adriatic Sea. There are not many ancient architectural sights preserved in Tivat, but for nature lovers there are pretty landscapes, clean beaches and even an exotic botanical garden.
TOP 10 attractions of Tivat
Porto Montenegro
Talking about the sights of Tivat, guides often mention the local yacht marina among the first. A specially equipped super-yacht dock in the Montenegrin resort is amazing even for seasoned sea wolves.
Marina "Porto Montenegro" was created thanks to the efforts of the Canadian businessman Peter Munch. Having invested a fortune in the equipment of berths and repair docks, he glorified his own name and Tivat all over the world.
If you don't have your own yacht yet, you can look at the beauties moored at the piers of the Tivat Marina. The mighty of the world and popular film actors, athletes and oligarchs are seen on their own and rented ships in the harbor of Tivat.
The marina can accommodate up to 400 ships at a time, and a quarter of the mooring spaces are intended for parking yachts with a length of one hundred meters or more. The Marina is equipped on the site where the Marine Arsenal was located, and in one of the docks of the former shipyard, a museum is opened that tells about the history of navigation in Montenegro and the countries of the entire former Yugoslavia.
Maritime heritage museum
The boathouse of the Tivat Marina, restored and converted for a museum exposition, is very popular among the guests of the resort. It houses a collection of exhibits that tell about the rich maritime traditions of the Adriatic and the history of navigation in Montenegro. The stands display about three hundred items of considerable historical value: sea diaries and rigging, ship models and ship equipment, original photographs of the 19th-20th centuries and weapons from which naval battles were fought in the old days.
The Museum of Maritime Heritage often holds thematic exhibitions, and once in Tivat, you can have an exciting time in its halls. The most popular exhibit is a submarine from the times of the SFRY, located on the street opposite the museum building.
Ticket price: 2 euros.
City Park
Any self-respecting resort has a city park, where it is customary to walk before dinner, relax on benches in shady alleys, feed squirrels with nuts from your palm and make dates. Tivat is no exception and its city park can be safely called a local landmark.
The park has a botanical garden - the largest on the southern coast of the Adriatic Sea. The initiator of the creation of the Botanical Garden, the commander of the Navy during the times of Austria-Hungary, Admiral von Sternek ordered the captains of sea-going ships to bring exotic plants and their seeds from the voyages. So a botanical garden appeared in Tivat, where palms and magnolias, cedars and sakura, as well as many other representatives of the overseas flora grow.
The park is located in the center of Tivat near the city beach Przno. In the shade of the trees, you can wait out the afternoon heat.
Island of Flowers
The name of a small island in the bay of Tivat in Serbian sounds like "Miholska prevlaka". Its main attraction is the Orthodox monastery of St. Michael, today lying almost in ruins, but being restored by the Montenegrins to the best of their ability.
Geographically, the Island of Flowers is a small piece of land connected to the mainland by a short isthmus:
- The island is three hundred meters long and two hundred meters wide.
- During the existence of the Republic of Yugoslavia, the Island housed a resort for high-ranking military officials.
- Most of the tourists today cross a small bridge for the sake of a magnificent beach about a kilometer long, which goes around the island around the perimeter.
The abundance of vegetation makes it possible to sunbathe on the Island of Flowers comfortably, even for those who do not like the heat too much.
Find: opposite Tivat airport.
Monastery of the Archangel Michael
The first Christian monastery appeared on the Island of Flowers in the 6th century. The monastery served as the residence of the Metropolitan of the Principality of Zeta, which united the lands on the western coast of the Balkan Peninsula. In 1441, the Venetians who dominated the territory of modern Montenegro burned down the monastery. The reason was rumors about a plague epidemic allegedly raging on the Island of Flowers and in the vicinity of Tivat.
The restoration of the monastery was taken up in the 19th century by Countess Ekaterina Vlastelinovich. She collected funds for the restoration, and herself made considerable donations, thanks to which the Church of the Holy Trinity was built on the island.
Locals have always believed that the monks did not die of illness, but were poisoned by the Venetians, and therefore their remains, buried in the monastery, are revered as the relics of saints. Modern research by scientists, by the way, confirms that the inhabitants of the monastery died from poisoning with arsenic salts.
At present, restoration work has been suspended, but novices live in several of the reconstructed cells, and the monastery is considered active.
St. Mark's Island
All covered with greenery, absolutely all, the island of St. Mark in the bay of Tivat is a favorite vacation spot for tourists who prefer wild beaches. Once there was a tourist village, consisting of several hundred cozy colorful bungalows, where fans came to spend their holidays in the bosom of nature without electricity and telephone communication. Political strife and hostilities in 1991 led to the fact that the infrastructure of the island was disrupted, and the place of annual meetings of the lazy hippie bohemia, in the literal sense, was overgrown with grass.
Now nudists and photographers specializing in nude and seascape photography come from Tivat to see the island of St. Mark.
Island of the Merciful Wife
Another small piece of land in the Tivat Bay of the Boka Kotorska Bay is well known to Christian pilgrims. On it there are Orthodox shrines of the 15th century - the monastery and the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. The patroness of the monastery is the Merciful Virgin Mary.
The religious complex was founded in 1479. After 45 years, Franciscan monks settled here and the monastery passed into the possession of the order. The Ottoman conquerors who came to the Balkans in the 17th century seized and plundered the monastery, but the believers restored the temple, cells and outbuildings as soon as the enemy was driven out.
In 1800, the monastery ceded as a residence to the episcopate of Kotor and remained in this role until World War II. Then came the years of oblivion and devastation, until restoration work began in the 70s of the last century.
The main relic of the monastery on the island of Gospa od Milo has been carefully preserved by its inhabitants since the 14th century. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary is an object of worship for all pilgrims who come here.
Church of St. Sava
The Orthodox Church in honor of Saint Sava of Serbia was built in the middle of the 20th century. The residents of Tivat are especially fond of this church, because Saint Sava is one of the most revered religious, cultural and political figures in the Balkans in the past.
In his youth, he was a monk on Mount Athos and, together with his father, a former Grand Duke and renounced the throne, recreated the Khilandar monastery. This monastery remains one of the most revered on Athos today. The most famous temple dedicated to the saint is located in Belgrade at the site of the burning of his relics by the Turkish conquerors.
The Church of St. Sava of Serbia in Tivat was built according to the project of local architects Alexander Deroko and Bogdan Nestorovich. The architecture clearly shows the neo-Byzantine style. The height of each of the four towers of the temple is 65 meters, and the diameter of the dome that they surround is 35 meters.
Bucha Palace
In the very center of Tivat, you can look at another architectural landmark, against which all tourists who come to the resort are often photographed. Bucha Palace is the summer residence of a noble family from Kotor who came to Tivat on vacation.
The Bucha Palace was built in the 17th century, and in its appearance you can clearly see the features characteristic of the fortifications of the Middle Ages. The palace rather resembles a small castle, where you could hide from the attack of a not very serious enemy army.
The whole complex consists of five parts, and tourists can see the living quarters, the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel, the church, the house belonging to the manager, and the portico at the entrance. Outside, the buildings are surrounded by an imposing stone wall in several rows. The defensive capabilities of the Bucha Palace indicate that a real master of fortifications worked on the project.
The castle in Tivat owes its modern appearance to the restorers, who have returned the structure to its almost original appearance. During the summer season, the Bucha Palace often becomes a stage site for concerts, plays and literary readings. Art exhibitions of both local and visiting painters are often organized on the territory of the castle. In a word, the Bucha castle, which was once a summer residence, today has become not just a tourist attraction, but also a cultural center of the Montenegrin resort of Tivat.
