Bar, Montenegro - History

History

The archeological excavations from older Neolithic confirm that there were people in Bar even in prehistory. The material remainders from Illyrian times can be found everywhere in Bar's municipality. It is assumed that Bar was mentioned as the reconstructed Roman castle Antipargal in the 6th century and the name Antibarium was quoted for the first time in the 10th century.

Although it is not known exactly when the town fell into the hands of the rulers of Doclea for the first time, because the Slavic influence predominated for a long time before the event, it probably took place already in the 9th century. Many rulers of Doclea seem to have stayed in Bar - for instance, Mihailo, the first king of Doclea whose royal title was confirmed in Bar, as well as Bodin, who set up the archdiocese of Bar. After the fall of Doclea the seat of the archdiocese was moved to Bar. In that period Doclea was leading fierce fights against its neighbours - the Byzantine Empire and Samuil's "The West Bulgarian State" - and the most famous ruler of Doclea, prince Vladimir had its seat in Krajina, near Bar. In order to free Doclea from Byzantine pressure, the son of Vojislav, prince Mihailo, asked for and got the royal crown from Rome in 1077 and that date for historians marks the official beginning of the separation of Doclea from the Byzantine power. Later on, following an appeal from Mihailo’s son Bodin, in 1089, the Pope enthroned Bar’s archdiocese.

The Byzantine Empire ruled again in Bar from 1166 until 1183 when Stefan Nemanja made a breakthrough which demolished towns on the Adriatic coast, including “the famous town Bar”, and joined Zeta to his state – Raška.

From 1443 to 1571 this region was under the rule of Venice, and Bar (called Antivari in the venetian language, spoken there until the 18th century) was part of the Albania Veneta. During the Middle Ages, Bar was the centre of the South Adriatic coast, a city–state which had a coat of arms, flag, statute and minted its own coins. The Ottomans captured Bar in 1571 and it remained in their hands until 1878. During this period it still had an archbishop. One of the more famous men to hold this office was Andrija Zmajević.

The Italian scientist and one of the pioneers in wireless telegraphy, Guglielmo Marconi, made a radio connection between Bar and Bari on August 30, 1904, and in 1908 the first railroad in this part of the Balkans was put into operation in 1913.

On July 13, 1941, in Bar’s municipality the uprising against the occupying power began and the first shots were fired in districts of Bar and Cetinje.