Jugoslovenski Rotar

BOKA KOTORSKA

The beauty of the landscape of Boka Kotorska, this southern fiord, is such that no visitor ought to leave it out of his program when visiting Yugoslavia. It is advisable to make an excursion either by car via Ercegnovi to Kotor and then proceed as far as Cetinje, or by boat to Kotor and thence by omnibus or motor-car to Cetinje. The two most important places of Boka Kotorska are situated at the extremities of this enchanting bay. Facing the entrance of the Boka from the main lies amphitheatrically situated Ercegnovi. In the most beautiful park of Boka Kotorska, in the heart of Ercegnovi on an elevation above the sea is the Hotel Boka, the best hotel of the district. At the end of the gulf of Kotor lies the capital Kotor. This is the starting point for an excursion to Montenegro, Cetinje and the lake of Skadar. On the return journey one may take the road through Budva. Cetinje was the capital of the king of Montenegro, Nicolas. In the former royal palace there is a museum containing memories of the Montenegrine past. The lake of Skadar enjoys a world reputation for its picturesqueness. The bay of Kotor is sheltered from the north winds by huge mountains and also from the sea, so that the vegetation is particularly luxuriant. The climate of Boka Kotorska is very mild and a longer stay in winter is particularly agreeable.

~

Dr. Branimir Gusic, Zagreb IN THE MOUNTAINS OF YUGOSLAVIA

On discovering the Yugoslav riviera the visitor is struck by its manifold beauty. The lovely blue sea — there is only one other sea so blue, the Ionian, — washes the exceedingly developed coast, where at the end of deep bays and on green promontories lie beautifully situated harbours, towns villages, and comely hamlets. The visitor rushing down our coast in the fever of modern life greedily takes in the beauty of the sea and of the coast and of ancient cities rich in culture. Of all these things it is precisely the cities which astonish and captivate the visitor, because they are all alike built of white stone, and still each of them lives its own life and harbours its own peculiar inheritance of a rich past.

The noisy Split openly seduces and overcomes the traveller by its becoming quais and tropical palms, by the charm of old sailing ships, with their penetrating odour of sweat, fish, tar and charcoal, by the idyllic suburbs of Firule and Baévice. But at the same time this voluble city piously preserves, conscious of its responsibilities towards future generations, the precious inheritance of the valuable monuments of the past ages. Or perhaps the visitor discovers Sibenik, proud of his unique Renaissance cathedral, or the noble and melancholy Trogir, of all Dalmatian cities the richest in historical antiquities, or Kotor, or Dubrovnik or the rustic Budva — and all these cities, some/ime strongholds of free communal life, evoke in him refined aesthetic experience and fascinate him for ever.

18