City Walls, Kotor

...attractions of Kotor - its City Walls.


When we arrived in the town we looked up from the hustle and bustle of the medieval cobbled streets lined with busy bars and gazed at the walls which creep up the mountainside, apparently disappearing into oblivion. Montenegro means "Black Mountain", and wherever you stand on the coast, the skyline is dominated by the gloom of the mountains just beyond the town. We contemplated ...
...of the day - pushing 35 or 36 degreed Celsius, and it looked a long, long way up. The walls snake along as far as the eye can see, and you can just make out the colourful little bobbing dots which are in fact people's sunhats, getting smaller and smaller as they get higher and higher until they just disappear over a peak, into a stone archway or behind a shrub. We sat down and had a beer.

Five days later, we decided that the wall ... more

Kotor is a beautiful little town on the Montenegro coast. It's a natural harbour and is a real jewel of the Adriatic. I'm going to write another review about the town - this one is about one the main attractions of Kotor - its City Walls.

When we arrived in the town we looked up from the hustle and bustle of the medieval cobbled streets lined with busy bars and gazed at the walls which creep up the mountainside, apparently disappearing into oblivion. Montenegro means "Black Mountain", and wherever you stand on the coast, the skyline is dominated by the gloom of the mountains just beyond the town. We contemplated the climb - the heat was intense in the middle of the day - pushing 35 or 36 degreed Celsius, and it looked a long, long way up. The walls snake along as far as the eye can see, and you can just make out the colourful little bobbing dots which are in fact people's sunhats, getting smaller and smaller as they get higher and higher until they just disappear over a peak, into a stone archway or behind a shrub. We sat down and had a beer.

Five days later, we decided that the wall must be tackled. Not an easy task for a slug like myself, I have to admit, but my poor old husband was contemplating doing it with our 2-year-old on his back! Oh, and did I mention I had a bit of a hangover too?! Oh yeah, and it was midday by the time we got there…

We had already discovered one of the three "entrances" whilst meandering around the town in previous days, so it was easy enough to re-trace our steps. If you were entering the old town for the first time specifically looking for the "gateways" to the wall though, you might get a bit lost. The town is very higgly-piggly, which of course is its charm, but navigating it can be rather tricky!

We paid 2 Euros each for the privilege of climbing Kotor's Walls. I'm not sure where this money goes to, but apparently the wall did suffer during an earthquake in 1979 so perhaps they are still reconstructing parts of it. (Although apparently UNESCO paid for most of the repairs).

The walls were originally constructed in the 12th to 14th centuries. They climb up 260 metres in height and extend to about 4km around the hillside. Needless to say, we only managed to walk a small proportion of that. There are several routes up the walls, but the main one leads to the Fortress of Saint John, which is now ruined but still explorable. You don't need a map to find your way up there - there is steady stream of panting tourists to follow. If you want to explore some of the lesser-used routes, I'd advise picking up a leaflet with a map of the walls. The maps are handed out when you pay your entry fee. The map of the walls is colour-coded with green, orange and red depending on how dangerous the route is. We went right up to the top, which is coded red, but it didn't seem particularly dangerous. There are no hand-rails and you would certainly fall a long way down if you strayed off the steps, but I don't think that would be very likely to happen unless you were exceedingly drunk.

The other routes lead off into the Montenegrin mountains - to ancient tracks which were used in the pre-asphalt days as the only way to get about this rocky country. It would be fascinating to trek around these parts, but perhaps not with a toddler in tow!

So we began our climb and very soon we were very hot indeed. It's a constant incline - no flat bits to get your breath back. The path is stepped on one side and a slope on the other, and I tried both in a mini-experiment to see which required less effort, but I think in the end it is just easier on your legs to swap over now and again. There is a steady stream of human traffic coming back down the other way too, so a bit of jostling is inevitable.

Every now and then, you get to a stone edifice - an archway, a bit of a church or something similar, and can stop for photos. The view back down on the town and bay of Risan is of course breathtaking, and just a little giddy-making. From time to time you will also encounter small groups of tourists (always British, curiously), sitting down by the wayside complaining about the heat and looking rather puce. We went past a group of 3 ladies on the way up who were still there on the way down, so I guess they didn't make it to the top!

With some effort, against the glaring sun and with a huge dose of dehydration going on, we made it to the top - you know you've made it to the top because there is a big fluttering flag of Montenegro to prove it. I'm sure you can keep on going even further, even though you are officially at the top, but there was no way we were going to attempt any more!

There are no shops at the top. I would have paid 10 Euros for a bottle of water I was so thirsty, so perhaps a little enterprise is needed! There were plenty of used bottled littered here and there on the way up, so I was half convinced there would be a café or something. It was quite a disappointment, and the little shade available was already full of tourists, so after dutifully taking some photos for a couple of minutes, we embarked on the downward run.

Downward takes about 20 minutes, compared to over an hour on the way up. You start off thinking it's easy, and a big relief after such a big climb. But after about 5 minutes a strange sensation begins in you calves. I thought it was just me at first, but hubby got it too - it's the wobbles. Your leg muscles just start wobbling, almost shaking. Something to do with the change of angle in your leg I guess, but it's quite odd. Your legs literally feel like jelly and you feel like you're going to tumble down over that precipice - and you're not even drunk! What the…! But of course, there's nothing you can do - you have to keep on going till you get to the bottom.

Finally at the end, we emerge into the old town, and hey - what a good joke! At this point the stones become exceptionally well-polished, no doubt due to hundreds of years' worth of feet, and the surface is as slippery as oil. Add to this the fact that you have lost control of your leg muscles, and the result is comical! Luckily, as soon as you hit the old town again, there is a plethora of watering holes, so no need to go too far before you can collapse in a chair with a beer. Bliss!

It's good fun, a hard slog but worth it - but you've got to be reasonably fit to make it. Not recommended to attempt in the middle of the day with a hangover, but I enjoyed it all the same!

Thanks for reading! 

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