Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architecture
Traditional Montenegrin houses are sturdy stone structures with small shuttered windows
and terracotta-tiled pitched roofs. In the mountainous regions a stone base is topped with a
wooden storey and a steeply pitched cut-gable roof designed to let the snow slide off. The
kula is a blocky tower-like house built for defence that's most common in the country's far
eastern reaches. They are usually three to four stories tall with no windows on the lowest
floor, and they sometimes have ornate overhanging balconies in wood or stone on the up-
per level.
The influence of Venice is keenly felt in the walled towns of the coast, which echo the
spirit of Dubrovnik and other Dalmatian towns. Cetinje's streets include late-19th-century
mansions and palaces remaining from its days as the royal capital.
It's easy to be dismissive of the utilitarian socialist architecture of the Yugoslav period,
yet there are some wonderfully inventive structures dating from that time. James Bond
would have been quite at home settling in with a martini beneath the sharp angles and bub-
bly light fixtures of some of the 1970s hotels. It would be a shame if those that haven't
already been bowled over or modernised aren't restored to their period-piece glory.
As for the concrete apartment blocks of the cities, they may look grim but they're
hardly the slums you'd expect of similar-looking housing projects in the West. While
nobody seems to be charged with the upkeep of the exteriors, inside they're generally
comfortable and well looked after.
Northern Montenegro and other parts of the Western Balkans are a treasure trove of carved medieval
tombstones known as ste ć ci . Their origins and symbolism continue to puzzle archaeologists.
 
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