Kotor
Котор
Bay of Kotor
March 13, 2005
Kotor is incredible! The streets are tiny and narrow and the entire city is made
of white bricks, which sounds ugly and boring, but it quite the opposite. The city
feels like Pirates of the Caribbean in Disney World, but so much more real, because
it is. The feel is unlike anything else and is, in many ways indescribable so I
won’t try, but will only talk of the city itself.
The city is littered with small Romanesque churches around every corner and narrow
walkways they call streets. The streets are never straight but wind around the town
in every directions. At one point I came across a building in the same white brick
as the rest of the city, but with a gate in the front, also of white brick. The
wall in front was tall and all you could see was the great door into the courtyard,
the second floor porch with great arches, and a huge palm tree to the right. The
house was every stereotype of a Pirate palace and was truly the most picturesque
building I’ve ever seen, as if recreated by a Hollywood studio, but in fact hundreds
of years old.
Behind the city is a hill that rises out of the town with a foot path and atop a
great castle and church. These buildings weren't worth the trek, but the views were.
The harbor was surrounded by hills, only the town sitting on the bit of flat ground
just before the mountains begin. The water perfectly reflected the other side of
the bay and was a dark green, almost like a jungle green, yet at the same time clear,
allowing you to look ten feet into the water, while giving the objects beneath the
surface a dark green hue. The city is also surrounded by a moat on two sides with
only bridges crossing into the village. The water comes right up to the walls of
the town and palm trees surround this moat.
It’s a perfect stereotype of a pirate village and I can picture the ships sailing
into the harbor even today with chests of gold and plundered goods. The streets
have sporadic stray dogs and cats, not a lot, but every ten minutes or so you’ll
see one, just adding to the feel.
City of Kotor
Marble streets