Welcome to facts about boka kotorska
 

 

Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor, Bocche di Cattaro) in western Montenegro is a winding bay on the Adriatic sea .

  The bay was considered by some to be Europe's southernmost fjord . In fact it is a submerged river canyon of the once called Bokeljska reka which run from the high mountain plateaux of Mount Orjen . Very intensive tectonics and karstification processes led to the disintegration of the river system. After heavy rain the famous waterfall of Sopot spring at Risan appears. The Bay is composed of several smaller broad gulfs, united by narrower channels, forming one of the finest natural harbours in Europe .
 

 
 

The close by hamlet of Risan ( Risano ), was a thriving Illyrian city of Rhizon as early as 229 BC , and gave its name to the Boka, then known as Rhizonicus Sinus . Rhizon submitted to Rome in 168 BC , at the same time Ascrivium, or Ascruvium, the modern Kotor ( Cattaro ), is first mentioned as a neighboring city.

   
 

Kotor itself has been fortified since the early Middle Ages , and was one of the more influential Dalmatian city-states throughout the period. It later passed to Bulgaria and then to Serbia , until becoming a semi-independent republic under the protectorate of medieval Serbian kings. 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 .

   
 

The Bokelj's had a very strong fleet, which counted as many as 300 ships in the 18th century. Boka was a rival to Dubrovnik and Venice.
   
 

At the beginning of the 19th century, the region of Boka Kotorska was included into Illyrian provinces , which were part of the French Empire . The region was later annexed by the Austrian Empire and was included into province of Dalmatia .

   
  According to the 1818 data, Boka had 29,899 inhabitants, of whom 21,310 were Orthodox Christians and 8,589 Roman Catholics. In that time municipalities with Orthodox majority were Kotor, Risan, Grbalj, Budva, and Herzeg-Novi, while municipalities with Catholic majority were Dobrota, Prcanj, Stoliv, Kontada kotorska, and Perast.