Strolling around the old city of Budva

On our last day in Montenegro, we decided to go to Budva, which was one of the oldest cities on these lands. The city was located on the Adriatic Sea and exactly at the famous Budva Riviera, which is its own coastal area. The city of Budva was not such a big city, so we needed half a day to go around it, but it was as interesting and beautiful as Dubrovnik and Kotor, thus it was absolutely worth visiting it.

The city of Budva was established a long time ago, around the fifth century before the birth of Christ by the Greeks. They ruled over the area for quite a while and then the Byzantine Empire took over it and then the Slavs and Avars took the control making it the Avarian Bay. Eventually, the city fell under the rule of the Venetians and later under the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Although the rulers of the city were changing quite a lot, it managed to keep all of the cultures that gathered there together and preserve them till this very day. The city of Budva is famous for being one of the Walled Cities of the Adriatic Sea and being quite ancient. It had a very strategic location for the maritime trade and its citizens were mostly sailors and traders. This made the city a very rich one, which attracted many traders to it that wanted to trade off their commodities. Eventually, the city became the desired spot for the great powers back then, which started overtaking it one by one.

The Old town of Budva

A very interesting fact about the old town of Budva is that years ago it was a separate island, but with time there was a drought, which led to the connection of the island with the mainland. That is how the Budva peninsula formed.

The old town of Budva is entirely walled and has many towers around, accompanied by five main gates leading you into the city. When we entered the old city it felt like going back to the Middle Ages. The architectural style of the buildings reminded of that in Venice, when I went there once. Furthermore, all the streets were stone-paved and narrow, also very secluded and mystical. The old city of Budva was quite small than what I expected, but there were still a couple of landmarks to be explored.

First, we went to the old Roman excavations that were exactly in the middle of the city and reminded of the ancient origin of the city. There we found the Roman baths of Budva, which were built around the fourth century. Right next to them was the church of Saint Ivan, which was a quite church built in Gothic architectural style with one tall tower with a bell. The church was quite old, as it was built around the seventh century, but has changed quite a lot throughout the ages. However, from the inside the church was impressive and like the churches of the Adriatic, it did not have a lot of frescoes. It had a small altar in the middle of the hall and a couple of statues of saints around it.

Then, we continued to Saint Sava church, which is a very small church built exactly at the city walls. The church was built around the eleventh century, which made it one of the oldest landmarks in the old city. Unfortunately, it was not opened at the time, so we could not go inside and check it out.

However, we continued to the Citadel Fortress of Budva, which was built around the middle of the twentieth century by the Austrian Army where it housed its troops during the wars. To enter the Citadel Fortress, you have to pay 3.50 euros at the entrance and you will get some very beautiful views over the old city of Budva. Truly, it is a very nice experience, especially if you decide to stay there for the sunset. I bet that it will be a very beautiful view.

Anyway, we continued to the beaches of Budva where we decided to get something to eat. There were not many options, but it was okay since we just wanted to try some fish soup and go back to our hotel. Our choice was the Astoria Beach Budva restaurant from which we could also enjoy a very beautiful view of the Adriatic Sea and the Sveti Nikola Island. A truly unforgettable view!

Well, at the end of our journey in Montenegro, all we wanted was to rest, so we walked a bit on the beach and then went back to our hotel through some nice parks along the coast. If you plan to visit Montenegro, do not hesitate. It is a truly beautiful Balkan country.

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