Cover photograph: a segment of the walking road and the Old Parish church in the upper area of Prčanja © Expeditio
Gornji (Upper) Stoliv is situated on a very steep terrain, on the north hillside of Vrmac, and it consists of groups of houses arranged in several rows. The houses face the sea, arranged in rows along the contour lines. In addition to agriculture and animal farming, the people of Gornji Stoliv intensively engaged in maritime trade and navigation. During the period of Venetian rule Gornji Stoliv used to have 1200 inhabitants, two olive mills and four bakeries.
Montenegro
St. Elijah’s church is situated in a prominent place dominating Gornji Stoliv. The church with a belfry is adjoined by an old school ruins, St. Anthony’s chapel and a parish house. The date of its construction in unknown; however, judging by an inscription above the entrance portal, it was enlarged in 1556. The church with its five altars was consecrated in 1748, while the belfry was built in 1833. In 1846, the church was restored by donation made by Gašpar Ivanović of Stoliv, while in 1905, it was fresco painted.
Trails through World Heritage Walking and Hiking Trails within the Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor A walking path between Gornji (Upper) and Donji (Lower) Stoliv
A group of houses with a threshing floor
A small chapel of Our Mother of Help is situated halfway on the road leading from Grasovo to the Old parish church. The chapel bears a stone bas-relief depicting the Virgin, with the inscription MAIKA OD POMOCHI (Our Mother of Help). There is information the chapel was restored in 1860 by the sea captain Jozo Verona.
Gornji (Upper) Stoliv Terraced fields with olive trees in Gornji (Upper) Stoliv area
In upper areas of Stoliv, from Markov rt to Gornji (Upper) Stoliv, a great part of terraced fields with dry-stone retaining walls has been preserved on a very steep terrain, planted with olive trees.
St. Anne’s is the oldest church in Stoliv supposed to have been built between the 12th and the 13th century. The church opens to a plateau with pižul (a stone bench) which offers a view of the town of Perast with its islands and the Bay of Risan.
The walking path connecting Gornji (Upper) and Donji (Lower) Stoliv is of special value. Its construction was funded by Gašpar Ivanović (1795–1878). The path leads from the coastal settlement, passing by a graveyard, St. Michael’s chapel and terracd estates, and running for the greater part through chestnut forests. The path, around 2 m wide, smartly uses the advantages of the terrain, consisting of steps and gently sloping ramps in some sections.
GLAVATI [St. Anne’s cove] PRČANJ GORNJI STOLIV DONJI STOLIV
The location and surface of the Natural and CulturoHistorical Region of Kotor
St. Peter’s church in Stoliv is situated by the footpath leading from Markov rt to Gornji Stoliv. It is a small, single-nave vaulted church without an apse, possibly built in the 16th or 17th century.
The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor, part of the Boka Kotorska Bay, is one of more than 1000 sites all over the world that have been inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List because they posses outstanding value for the humankind.
St. Anne’s church and St. Elijah’s church in Gornji Stoliv
A harmonious relationship between the impressive environment of the Bay and the wealth and diversity of its cultural heritage that has been created over centuries makes the Region of Kotor a cultural landscape of outstanding universal value.
The complex of the Old parish church / the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary is one of the most striking landmarks on the slopes of Vrmac facing Kotor, pointing out that an older part of Prčanj settlement was situated there. The time of construction of an original church is unknown; however, the church is mentioned as Santa Maria de Parzana in 1399. In 1672, the original mediaeval church was restored and enlarged by the
addition of a large nave, so that the old church became an apse. At that time, as inscription by Don Petar Sbutega was placed above the main entrance, reading Templum istud tu Virgo custodi precesque orantium exaudi (Oh, thee the Virgin, guard this temple and answer the prayers of the faithful). A belfry with a clock adjoins the church, as well as an octagonal chapel with a dome built in 1740. The tombs of important families of Prčanj (Mihnić, Florio, Luković), are found inside the church, while around it a graveyard was built where many notable people of Prčanj, priests and sea captains were buried, including Ivo Vizin, the first South Slav who sailed around the globe from 1852 to 1859. The remains of an old parish house are found in the immediate surroundings of the church, while the whole complex of the church with the graveyard is supported on the wall and fenced with a wall containing loophole embrasures. The church used to be a pilgrimage during the time when the icon of the Virgin of Prčanj, possessing, according to tradition, miraculous powers, was kept there.
A strip between the coastal houses and the upper part of the settlement is arable land, formed as terraced fields supported on drystone walls. The main crops grown there were olives, grapevine and figs. During the 18th century, large quantities of dry figs were exported to Venice. Mulberry trees very grown for silk production, which existed in Boka Kotorska in the Middle Ages, and following the interruption during the Venetian period, it was restored in the 19th century. In the middle of the 19th century, two silk factories were opened in Prčanj and 100 mulberry trees were planted in 1875.
St. Peter’s church in Stoliv
Herceg Novi
Old parish church
Old parish church
One of the main crossroads connecting the old village road with the coast is the one leading from Grasovo site, situated in the central part of coastal settlement, to the Old parish church. It is an old main street of Prčanj, quite wide, and for the greater par cobbled, including the section consisting of steps. The road runs by a group of houses that includes a Verona Palace, the Baroque palace built in the second half of the 18th century, and the largest one in Prčanj. In the upper part of this road, a group of houses is situated, with a threshing floor, illustrating the former appearance of Gornji (Upper) Prčanj.
Hiking trail Glavati – Prčanj – Stoliv is part of the old walking road. The trail passes
St. Anne’s church is situated on the former estate of Sbutega family. The exact date of it construction is unknown; it supposed to have been built in the second half of the 14th century. The church has a high bellcote and above the entrance stands an elongated Gothic window with a lintel. The apse has as its original stone tile roofing preserved. The church houses an altar piece depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Anne, painted in 1725 and restored in 1796. In front of the church, an old graveyard existed, while to the southeast, the remains of residential buildings can be found dating back possibly to the time of construction of the church.
Kotor
St. Peter’s church is situated east of the Old parish church. In all probability built in the middle of the 17th it was consecrated in the 18th century. Owned by the Sbutega family it was probably built by Don Petar Sbutiga, the parish priest of Prčanj. A chapel with a bellcote, currently in a ruined state, adjoins the church. A stone spolia is built into the chapel wall bearing the inscription UNIO VINCIT (Unity Wins).
St. Anne’s church
Tivat
A section of the upper road leading to the Old parish church Terraced fields with mulberry trees in Gornji Prčanj area St. Peter’s church
through different landscapes offering splendid views of the Bay, trough remains of an old settlement in Prčanj and Gornji Stoliv. A specific feature of the trail is that it includes a number of sacral objects – chapels and churches. The segment of the trail show on the map starts from Glavati cove, i.e. St. Anne’s cove.
Property on the World Heritage List
The position of Prčanj on Vrmac hillsides, the beginning of the 20th century
For coastal settlements the sea was the main communication and connection with neighbours and the world. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, during the period of Austro-Hungarian rule, a new coastal road was built disturbing the natural connection between settlements and the sea.
In Vrmac area, the main routes of footpaths connecting the upper villages with the coast, and the villages with each other, have probably been formed back in the Middle Ages. On Vrmac hillside facing Kotor, the road network was based on the main upper village road running in parallel with the coast, following the contour lines, about 200 m from the coast, at 150-200 m above sea level. This road connected all the villages on Kotor facing hillside, connecting them also with the villages on Tivat facing hillside. Don Niko Luković refers to it as “the ancient village road”, while, on the Austro-Hungarian cadastral map from the first half on the 20th century, it is marked as Strada Sottomonte (the road under the hill). Several crossroads connected this main road with the coast, adjusted to the configuration of the terrain, i.e. following the lines of mountain crests and torrents. These crossroads were made of steps and flat sections or gently sloping ramps, often fenced with dry-stone walls. Depending on the configuration of the terrain, some sections of the main road were built in natural rock, while others were supported on dry-stone walls. The central section of the road through Gornji (Upper) Prčanj, leading to the Old parish church, is cobbled.
Buffer zone
In the Bay, formed by steep mountains rising up to 1700 m, with its coastline of naturally quite
In higher zones of the Bay, where the strip of arable land meets the steep, rocky or wooded hillsides, the older parts of settlements are found, today mostly deserted. Settlements on the coast and those on the hillsides are connected with each other and with the hinterland by a network of old walking trails and roads.
Prčanj saw a rapid development after it gained the status of an independent maritime commune form the Venetian Republic in 1704. Although some people remained living in the upper area and working in agriculture, the development of coastal settlement meant the stagnation and gradual abandonment of the upper village. However, in Stoliv, which gained a maritime commune status in 1721 and the municipality status in 1790, both settlements, Donji (Lower) and Gornji (Upper) Stoliv were developed in parallel.
A map of Prčanj from 1802
A network of walking trails and roads connecting coastal settlements with the older ones on the hillsides and with the hinterland, as well as a network of roads created as part of a defensive system, make an important segment of the cultural landscape of Kotor Region. These roads and paths which are suitable for walking and hiking make it possible to view and experience the values of World Heritage cultural landscape from different angles.
The Region of Kotor was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List with its Outstanding Universal Value embodied “in the quality of the architecture in its fortified and open cities, settlements, palaces and monastic ensembles, and their harmonious integration to the cultivated terraced landscape on the slopes of high rocky hills”. The Region also bears a unique testimony to a very important role it has played over centuries in spreading the Mediterranean culture across the Balkan Peninsula.
complex form and a narrow strip of arable land, numerous towns and settlements have been founded over a long period of time, separated from each other by patches of arable land or primeval rocky landscape. Settlements on the coast are made of groups of houses and a developed waterfront characterized by a system of ponte (small stone quays) and mandraći (stone enclosures for boats). Above the houses, on a narrow strip of arable land in higher zones, terraced fields have been formed supported by dry-stone walls, on which vineyards, olive groves and orchards used to be grown, references to which have been made in the archival sources.
The period of Venetian rule saw a gradual development and the gaining of independence of the coastal settlements. From the 16th century on, the people of Prčanj started increasingly turning to seafaring, buying pieces of land on the coast from Kotor noblemen and building houses there. In that way, the coastal settlement was being developed, especially at the end of the 17th century, when the driving of Turks out of the Bay created necessary safety and the families of merchants, ship-owners and seafarers became the leaders of development. During this period, representative houses and Baroque palaces were built on the coast.
Adriatic Sea
The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is part of the Boka Kotorska Bay – a unique Mediterranean bay situated on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro – described by authors as “a magical bay”, “an area of mysterious beauty” and “one of the most beautiful corners of the Adriatic Sea”.
Donji and Gornji Stoliv, the beginning of the 20th century
Boka Kotorska Bay
A map of Boka Kotorska, author: Vincenzo Coronelli, 1688
The area of Prčanj and Stoliv was part of the district of Kotor during the Middle Ages. Noble families of Kotor used to have their estates there, with gardens, vineyards, olive groves and orchards, and summer residences built on the waterfront. In the upper zone, where arable land borders rocky slopes, rural settlements have been established for people working on the land. A rural settlement, of linear structure, has been formed along the main communication – the road running in parallel with the coast, at 150-200 m above sea level.
Main sources: • A Historical and Aesthetic Presentation, Don. Niko Luković, 1937 • Cultural Heritage of Vrmac, 2015 • The Study on the Protection of Cultural Properties in the Municipality of Kotor, 2017 • http://whc.unesco.org/ • Management Plan of the Natural and CulturoHistorical Region of Kotor, 2011
Vrmac is a hill and a peninsula in the Bay of Boka Kotorska that separates Kotor and Tivat Bays. The massif of Vrmac stretches in northwest-southeast direction, with its highest top, St. Elijah, being 785 m above sea level. On the northeastern hillside, facing Kotor Bay, the settlements of Muo, Prčanj and Stoliv are situated.
Map, text and photos: EXPEDITIO
Walking and hiking trail Glavati – Prčanj – Stoliv
The settlements of Prčanj and Stoliv on Vrmac hillsides
The map has been produced within the framework of project “Trails through World Heritage”, conducted by the non-governmental organization EXPEDITIO. The project was funded by the Municipality of Kotor, with the participation of the Tourism organization of Kotor.
Natural and CulturoHistorical Region of Kotor
Trail
Length
Time
Level of difficulty
Glavati-Donji Stoliv
5,7km
2h 40min
Medium
Prčanj (Grasovo)-Donji Stoliv
4,8 km
1h 55min
Medium
Cape of St. Mark-Donji Stoliv
3,3 km
1h 30min
Medium
Glavati-Cape of St. Mark
3,2 km
1h 10min
Medium
Prčanj (Grasovo)-Cape of St. Mark
2,3 km
1h
Medium
Glavati-Prčanj (Grasovo)
2,1 km
50min
Easy
Donji Stoliv-Gornji Stoliv
1,1 km
25min
Easy
Prčanj (Grasovo)-Old Parish church
0,9 km
15min
Easy
Hiking without a guide is on one’s own responsibility European unique emergency number - 112