Bay of Kotor - History

History

The nearby hamlet of Risan was a thriving Illyrian city called Rhizon as early as 229 BC and gave its name to the bay, then known as Rhizonicus Sinus. Queen Teuta of Illyria retired from Shkodra to Rhizon. Rhizon eventually submitted to Rome in 168 BC, at the same time that Acrivium, or Acruvium, the modern Kotor, was first mentioned as a neighboring city.

Kotor has been fortified since the early Middle Ages, and was one of the more influential Dalmatian city-states of the Romanized Illirians throughout the period. It later passed to Bulgaria and then to Serbia before becoming a part of the medieval Bosnian state. Its merchant fleet and importance gradually increased, and after the fall of Serbia to the Ottoman Empire in the late 14th century, Kotor was seized by the Venetian Republic. Part of the Bay of Kotor area was conquered by the Turks at the end of the 15th century, and the Venetian Republic held the southern part with the city of Kotor. The Turkish part was retaken at the end of the 17th century and the whole area became part of the Venetian Republic, with the name of Albania Veneta. Until the 20th century the difference between the two parts was visible because the former Turkish part had an Orthodox majority, and the part that was under Venetian rule had a Catholic majority.

At the beginning of the 19th century the region around the Bay of Kotor was included in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and later in the Illyrian provinces, which were a part of the French Empire. The region was later conquered by Montenegro with Russian help by the Episcop of Cetinje Petar I Petrović Njegoš and, in 1813, a union of the bay area with Montenegro was declared.

In 1815, the bay was annexed by the Austrian Empire (Austro-Hungary since 1867) and was included in the province of Dalmatia (part of Cisleithania since 1867). In 1848 Montenegrin Prince-Bishop Petar II Petrović-Njegoš advised the denizens to fight in the Revolutions of 1848 for Croatian Ban Josip Jelačić in an attempt to unite Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia under the Habsburg crown. Contrary to this the Serb National Guard of Kotor refused the proposition of Petar II Petrović Njegoš to unite with Croatia-Slavonia, stating that Serbs have to be unified first before uniting with other Slavs.

An attempt was made to take the bay by the Kingdom of Montenegro during World War I. It was bombarded from Lovćen, but by 1916 Austro-Hungary had defeated Montenegro. On 7 November 1918 the Serbian army entered the bay and was greeted by the people as liberators. It became a part of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs. The State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs joined the Kingdom of Montenegro and the Kingdom of Serbia. Within a month, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes was formed and was renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929. The bay was a municipality of Dalmatia until it was, as all historic entities, re-organized into smaller districts in 1922. It was incorporated into the Zeta Area, from 1939 Zeta Banate.

According to a list of Christians from the Kotor Catholic Bishopric from 29 October 1625, the bay had a total of 3,430 residents. 2,350 were Orthodox and 1,080 were Catholic.

According to 1818 data, the area had 29,899 inhabitants, of whom 21,310 were Orthodox Christians and 8,589 Roman Catholics. At that time municipalities with an Orthodox majority were Kotor, Risan, Grbalj, Budva, and Herceg Novi, while municipalities with a Catholic majority were Dobrota, Prčanj, Stoliv, Kontada of Kotor, and Perast.

The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1880:

• Herceg-Novi = 3,314 Orthodox Christians, 1,469 Catholics
• Kotor = 7,051 Catholics, 3,077 Orthodox Christians
• Risan = 1,910 Orthodox Christians, 860 Catholics

In Kotor municipality Krtole had an Orthodox majority, 899 compared to 89 Catholic inhabitants, and in Risan municipality, Perast had a Catholic majority, 683 compared to 327 Orthodox inhabitants.

The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1890:

• Herceg-Novi = 3,377 Orthodox Christians, 1,274 Catholics
• Kotor = 7,409 Catholics, 2,983 Orthodox Christians
• Risan = 1,842 Orthodox Christians, 1,000 Catholics

According to the 1900 population census, the Bay of Kotor had 37,096 inhabitants. Religion:

• 24,130 (65.05%) Eastern Orthodox
• 12,777 (34.44%) Roman Catholics
• 189 (0.51%) other

Language:

• 31,087 (83.8%) Serbian & Croatian
• 842 (2.27%) German
• 731 (1.97%) Italian
• 1,029 (2.77%)other

The population of the municipalities of Boka in 1900, all settlements:

• Budva = 5,526 Orthodox Christians, 1,537 Catholics
• Herceg-Novi = 7,377 Orthodox Christians, 2,198 Catholics
• Kotor = 7,617 Catholics, 7,207 Orthodox Christians
• Risan = 4,020 Orthodox Christians, 1,385 Catholics

The population of the municipalities, only coastal settlements, of Boka in 1910:

• Herceg-Novi = 3,893 Orthodox Christians, 2,599 Catholics
• Kotor = 9,188 Catholics, 3,554 Orthodox Christians
• Risan = 1,884 Orthodox Christians, 1,215 Catholics

According to the 1910 census, the Bay of Kotor area had 40,582 inhabitants, of whom 24,794 were Orthodox Christians and 14,523 Catholics, but in the same time in the coastal area of Bay of Kotor there were 22,823 inhabitants of which 13,002 were Catholics and 9,331 were Orthodox.

From 1918, the Bay of Kotor was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929). Between 1918 and 1922 the region was a separate county administered from Kotor (still in Dalmatia. Between 1922 and 1929 it was part of Zeta Oblast, and between 1929 and 1941 part of Zeta Banovina. According to the 1921 census, Boka had 36,539 inhabitants, of whom 23,777 were Orthodox Christians and 12,342 Catholics.

The region of the Bay of Kotor was occupied by the Italian Army in April 1941, and was included in the Italian Governatorato di Dalmazia until September 1943. Since 1945, it has been part of the Republic of Montenegro.

Today, most of the inhabitants of the region are Orthodox Christian declaring themselves on census forms either as Serbs or as Montenegrins, while about 11% of its population is Croatian. The Bay of Kotor region is under the protection of UNESCO due to its very rich cultural heritage.

In 1979, there was an earthquake that destroyed or seriously damaged numerous cultural monuments.