Kotor, Montenegro 9/15/21

 We tied up in a new port in a new country today. The city of Kotor beckoned to us from just up the pier and across the street. We had our ship's card scanned as usual at the gangway, walked up the pier, took the escalator down under the street, up the other side, and entered behind the stone walls of Old Town Kotor.

The sun rose slowly over the mountain to the east of the city, gradually moving down the hills to the west.

First stop was a maritime museum. There were many exhibits but this photo is the only one that made the cut because of the length of this post.

St. Tryphon's Cathedral was across the square. It is noted as one of the main attractions of Kotor, so I headed over, paid my three Euros admission and spent as much time as I dared while Iko waited in a nearby café (because of the many stairs in the cathedral and treasury). If you are interested in reading more about St. Tryphon and the church, here's a link to a short article: https://www.montenegropulse.com/st-tryphon-cathedral-kotor-montenegro.html

Along one of the stiarways were pieces of the original church and those that were built again as earthquakes damaged the older ones. This one if from the 9th century.

The article, linked above, describes how hard times after one of the destructive earthquakes prevented complete restoration. Even today one tower is two feet shorter than the other. This bell is a remnant of an earlier iteration of the church.

Relics of St Tryphon, and the church itself, came to be in Kotor by a strange twinst of fate, also outlined in the referenced article.

Many of the old walls are intact with repairs here and there. I've remarked to myself several times how the old walls in these cities are much older than the time our country's been in existence.

Inside the old walls there are narrow streets and byways like a honeycomb.

 Many of the walls and battlements are from the times when the Turks were trying

to capture these towns.

I liked the hanging baskets of colorful flowers. In this case flamboyant petunias. I also liked the functional shutters on most of the buildings.

More stones, but I couldn't resist adding this photo of the old stone steps, worn in the centers by many feet over the centuries.

Looming over the city are the monte negro (black mountains) from which the counrty takes its name. 

We took a little longer over dinner tonight so missed the opportunity to take another sunset shot. I'll be back tomorrow as we sail into Argostoli for a return visit.