Perast is a small town belonging to the municipality of Kotor in Montenegro. It lies below the St. Elias mountain (873 m) on the shore of the Bay of Kotor and is the place with the mildest climate and the most hours of sunshine in the year. Perast is connected to Risan in the north and Kotor in the southeast via the shore of the bay. In front of Perast there are two picturesque islands: St. George (Sveti Dorde) and St. Mary’s on the rock (Gospa od Skrpjela). On one island is the cemetery of the place, the other is a well-known pilgrimage site with its chapel.
The old Perast had no city wall, but was protected by nine individual towers. These were built in the 15th and 16th centuries for protection against the Ottomans, after the place had come back in 1420 under the rule of the Venetians. After the end of the Turkish wars Perast had its heyday in the 18th century. In the village there were four shipping companies, which together maintained a fleet of more than 100 merchant ships. Many of the prosperous captains chose Perastas as their retirement home and built smaller or larger villas that still shape today’s cityscape. By the end of the 18th century, Perast had more than 1,600 inhabitants. When the Venetian rule ended in 1797 with the destruction of the republic, this was greatly regretted by the inhabitants, because they had always maintained a good relationship with the Republic of St. Mark.
Access : Coordinates: 42.486944, 18.699167 / By air : Nearby Airports : Tivat (19km, 25min) , Dubrovnik (59km, 1h 12min) , Podgorica (102km, 2h 3min)
By bus : regular bus line (blue line ) which goes from Kotor to Kostanjica and back. runs every hour but there are lots of other buses which are going to/from Budva, Bar, Podgorica etc through Perast and Kotor. By car : You can get to Perast by following the Bok Kotorska Bay coast line.(from Kotor 15 min drive) / By boat : Several boat trips from Kotor and Budva takes you through the bay and sets you off at the small island church of Our Lady of the Rock.
Highlights :
- The two local islands. St. George island and Gospa od Skrpjela (Our Lady of the Rock). / Baroque palaces in Perast : Perast stands out with 16 palaces, mostly Baroque, and most families belong to 12 Persian fraternities (Kazahstan). Lucic-Kolovic-Matikola Palace (located to the west of the small Zmajevic palace) / Bujovic Palace from 1694.
- Bronze Palace / Palace Balovic (old and new) from 1694. / Vukasovic-Kolovic Palace / Brajkovic-Martinovic Palace / Smekja Palace (Smekija, Smecchia, in the People of Garbage) from 1764.
- Viskovic Palace from 1500 to 1718. /Mazarovic Palace / Zmajevic Palace from 1664. (south is a small palace Zmajevic) / Mrsha Palace (Mrsa) / Pavlovicini Palace / Martinovic Palace / Krilovic Palace (in the west of the city)
In Perast there are still Corko palace, small palace Zmajevic, Chismae-Stukanovic palace (or just Cismae (Cismai). - Other important buildings: the fortress of St. Crisis / Bizetina / Family House Tripa Kokolje /complex Martinovic / house of Durisic with the tower of Mazarovic
- barracks (at the far west of the city below the Magistral) house Burovic / houses N. Petkovic and S. Stevic.
- the conference building of the Adriatic . a string above St. Nicholas / the remains of older buildings in the garden of the Mrs. palace / Consul House Sirovic (with the Lady of Carmel)
- churches : In the Perak parish there are 17 Catholic churches: Sv. John the Baptist, The Cross (Church of the Holy Cross, central part, Chapel of the Holy Cross, west , Church of Our Lady of Ruzarija (Rozarija), Sv. Marko, Sv. Nikola (old and unfinished new church), Sv. John the Evangelist, Antun, the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady of Carmel, Mihovil, Sv. Ana (Glogovac), Our Lady of Health, Our Lady of Sculpture (island church), Sv. Juraj (island church), Our Lady of Angel and Our Lady of Rice (Rice) or Our Lady of Snow. In the town there are still Orthodox churches of the Birth of the Holy Virgin and chapel on the Orthodox cemetery. Southeast of the Fortress of St. The cross is the monastery and the church of St. Anthony.
- The Baroque bell tower of the parish church of St. Nikola Korcula stone was designed by Venetian architect Giuseppe Beati, and works were carried out by the Croatian builder Ivan Krstitelj Skarpa.
Activities : organized day trips, Walk/trekking Events: International Klapa Festival
Go next : Kotor / Risan / Budva / Herceg Novi
