Bay of Kotor

The Bay of Kotor (Serbo-Croatian/Montenegrin/Croat/Serbian: Boka Kotorska, Cyrillic script: Бока Которска, ) in southwestern Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, once called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a ria of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro.

The Verige strait represents the narrowest section of the bay and is located between Cape St. Nedjelja and Cape Opatovo; it separates the inner bay east of the strait from the remainder and belongs to the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor, a World Heritage Site. Montenegro is planning to build a bridge to span the strait, the so called Verige Bridge.

The bay has been inhabited since antiquity and has some well preserved medieval towns. The picturesque towns of Kotor, Risan, Tivat, Perast, Prčanj, Herceg Novi, and Budva, along with their natural surroundings, are major tourist attractions.

The religious heritage of the land around the bay — its numerous Orthodox and Catholic Christian churches and monasteries — makes it one of the major pilgrimage sites of the region.