abstract

1. Abstract

The historical ensemble of the city of Perast differs from other coastal settlements due to its dense structure and clear border to the natural environment in Boka Bay, Montenegro. Although it was never surrounded by walls, this architectural formation manifests urbanity which is contained in its social composition, domination of the nobility, higher clergy and wealthy citizens, ship owners and sailors. Autonomy of the commune was conquered at the two-century boundary of the two worlds: Christian-Venetian in the city itself and Islamic-Turkish in neighboring Risan and Herceg Novi. Its geographical position at the entrance to the Kotor bay of Boka, with its fleet, naval experience and a kind of diplomacy, contributed decisively Perast to the push of the Turkish force inland until the decisive victory of the Alliance in the second half of the seventeenth century.

The closed nature of the formation is one of the most important features of the compact urban ensemble of Perast. In the driveways Kotor - Risan bay, either by sea through Verige or by roads along the coast, panorama of Perast is indicated as the central motif of this urban area. Its parent elements are: island of St. George and the island of Our Lady of Scarpello, baroque palaces in the coastal row, dense cascade formation along steep slopes, with a bell tower in the center and a fortification at the top of Sv. Elijah, city squares, as well as the families’ gardens. Baroque exposition that was realized in other places during the construction of individual palaces, parish churches and monasteries, here it permeated the whole city fabric. Thus preserved urban matrix of the whole city with an urban structure represents one of the most significant values of Perast.

After the earthquake of 1667 and the expulsion of the Turks from the banks of the Boka, it turned out to be a period of Baroque flourishing. The city of Perast completed its urban appearance with the construction of Baroque palaces and monasteries that belonged to the most important families of that time, and among which there stand out complexes of Zmajević, Smecchia, Mazarovic and Bronza families.

Consequently, standing today, in the XIX century, among these monuments of decaying human glory and unique vistas is the resting of the spirit in the struggle of life, an open book of the glorious past but also incentive to work in the future, as these represent undoubtedly a favorable basis for further improvement of the tourist offer in the direction of forming a competitive cultural tourist product.

In that context, recognition of economic, social, cultural and spatial impact of cultural tourism on economic and cultural growth, as well as analysis of the UNESCO guidelines, local development and planning documents and resources, are certainly initial steps in creating a clear concept in defining strategic priorities and a plan of further activities.

The main aim of the following project is to ensure effective protection and improve the importance of a UNESCO World Heritage site of the city of Perast in Montenegro, through the establishment of a comprehensive management plan. It is this plan, which tries to set the framework for integrated and proactive management, which promotes values, heritage resources and their future use.

Therefore, the project promotes the general idea of ensuring that through the inherited patrimony, we can achieve an active function in a collective life, while at the same time integrating the achievements of our time with the cultural values and natural goods of the past, in attempt to transcend them altogether to the foreigners, to the future generations of the local community but also to the citizens of Montenegro as a whole.