The Bay of Kotor, also known as the Boka, is the winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. The bay has been inhabited since antiquity. Its well-preserved medieval towns of Kotor, Risan, Tivat, Perast, Prčanj and Herceg Novi, along with their natural surroundings, are major tourist attractions. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Its numerous Orthodox and Catholic churches and monasteries attract numerous religious and cultural pilgrims.
The bay is about 28 kilometres (17 mi) long with a shoreline extending 107.3 kilometres (66.7 mi). It is surrounded by two massifs of the Dinaric Alps: the Orjen mountains to the west, and the Lovćen mountains to the east. The narrowest section of the bay, the 2,300-metre (7,500 ft) long Verige Strait, is only 340 metres (1,120 ft) wide at its narrowest point. The bay is a ria of the vanished Bokelj River, which used to flow from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. The bay is composed of several smaller broad bays, united by narrower channels. The bay inlet was formerly a river system. Tectonic and karstification processes led to the disintegration of this river. After heavy rains, the waterfall of Sopot spring at Risan appears, and Škurda, another well-known spring, runs through a canyon from Lovćen. The outermost part of the bay is the Bay of Tivat. On the seaward side is the Bay of Herceg Novi, at the main entrance to the Bay of Kotor. The inner bays are the Bay of Risan to the northwest and the Bay of Kotor to the southeast. The Verige Strait represents the bay’s narrowest section and is located between Cape St. Nedjelja and Cape Opatovo; it separates the inner bay east of the strait from the Bay of Tivat.
Most of the region’s inhabitants are Orthodox Christians, declaring themselves on census forms of either Montenegrins or Serbians, while a minority are Croatians. The Bay region is under the protection of UNESCO due to its rich cultural heritage. The Boka region has a long naval tradition and has harbored a strong naval fleet since the Middle Ages. The fleet peaked at 300 ships in the 18th century, when Boka was a rival to Dubrovnik and Venice.
On the landward side, long walls run from the fortified old town of Kotor to the castle of Saint John, far above; the heights of the Krivošije, a group of barren plateaus in Mount Orjen, were crowned by small forts. The shores of the bay Herceg Novi house the Orthodox convent of St. Sava near (Savina monastery) standing amid surrounding gardens. It was founded in the 16th century and contains many specimens of 17th century silversmiths’ work. 12.87 km east of Herceg Novi, there is a Benedictine monastery on a small island opposite Perast (Perasto). Perast itself was for a time an independent state in the 14th century.
