TOP-11 Tourist Attractions of Tivat, Montenegro – According to Historian Nikolay Stepanov

Tivat is the youngest seaside city of Montenegro. Most of the buildings here were built in the XX century, but if you plan to spend 2 or 3 days in this city, time will fly by very quickly. This article will help you decide how to arrange your activity in Tivat and its surroundings. The history of Tivat also requires a separate description; it is no less interesting than the attractions of this city.

Most visitors to Montenegro know Tivat only for its international airport. The phrase goes, “we feel sad for Tivat,” as this city is not only for transit. This city has its own unique history, distinct personality, as well as architectural and natural zests.

Мore and more tourists and visitors of the country, who have chosen Montenegro as a place of their permanent residence, are getting attracted by Tivat due to its exotic topography and advantageous location on the flat shore of the spectacular Boka Kotor Bay.

There are good reasons for you to stay in Tivat for longer than a couple of hours, while you are waiting for your next flight at the main tourist airport of Montenegro.

It happens that there is only 1 day left before your departure, or you come here to a conference and have only one day to visit interesting places in Tivat. For this purpose, I have compiled a TOP-3 must-see attractions list that will provide an insight into the past, present and future of this pretty city. Within almost a 10-minute walk from each other there are the 3 most interesting places of Tivat:

1. Bucha Palace and its small museum, where you will learn and see how noble Venetians lived and rested. Its tower and fortress walls will take you back to the mid-XVI century.
2. The Naval Heritage Museum can be visited by both adults, and children. There are still citizens of Tivat alive, who worked at the local Naval Base. You will learn about its history in this museum and inside the submarines located in its yard.
3. The yachting village of Porto Montenegro will show you the future of the city. Yes, the city has made its choice in favor of luxury tourism.

Of course, there are more historical and simply beautiful places to visit in Tivat. But according to my experience, in the last 3-4 years, the abovementioned tourist attractions have been the main source of interest and positive emotions among tourists. General information about Tivat is also unified and will be useful both for tourists on vacation, and for long-term visitors of Montenegro.

History of Tivat

The history of Tivat (the Latin version of the city's name is Teodo) starts from the XIX century. Tivat appeared as a naval base for the Austro-Hungarian fleet. This was a settlement place for officers, military arsenal and shipyard workers. Further, barracks for soldiers and sailors were built. It was then that Tivat acquired the outlines of a city.

Until the 19th century, here, on the territory of the future municipality of Tivat, there were only scattered villages of the Serbian Krtoli tribe, as well as country houses and plantations of wealthy Venetian families from Kotor.

Geographical Location of Tivat

The municipality of Tivat, tiny even by Montenegrin standards, is sandwiched between the peninsulas of Vrmac and Lustica and is divided into 2 parts by the Tivat Bay, the old saltern, Tivat airport and the islands of the Krtol archipelago. Thus, part of the municipality is located on the Lustica peninsula. The most interesting thing here is the Lustica Bay yachtsmen’s village, looking out into the open Adriatic Sea.

In turn, among the 3 islands located in the bay in front of Tivat, there is a walking-attractive Island of Flowers or the Island of the Michael the Archangel, connected to the land by a small bridge. In the past, there used to be a sanatorium for the Yugoslavia Ministry of Defense here. Now the passage between the houses of the former sanatorium is free, so you can go there and take a walk.

City Size

The seaside city and municipality of the same name (opština) Tivat looks like a beautiful and spoiled younger brother of the neighboring cities of Kotor and Herceg Novi in the family of Montenegrin cities. Of course, it is younger than them, because it became a real urban settlement only at the end of the XIX century, but the most interesting thing is that Tivat is several times smaller in area than its neighbors. Opština Tivat is 7 times smaller than Kotor one and 5 times smaller than Herceg-Novi. So tiny it is.

Even the international airport of the same name belongs to Tivat only partially. Tivat has the right to only up to the middle of the airport runway; the second half of the airport territory belongs to neighboring Kotor.

History of the Name of Tivat

The first name of the city, Teodo, has several versions of origin. The main version says that there used to be the Church of St. Theodore somewhere here before. Well, you understand, in Russian Theodore is Fedor, which means that the temple was named in honor of St. Fedor Stratilates, who was and still is the patron of the military. So, he was a perfect saint for the Austrian soldiers and sailors who were based here.

Thus, the name of the town of Teodo remained outside of the city, and the Slavonic people, who started to govern here after the Austrians left in 1918, changed the Latin word Teodo to Tivat. Now, one of the ferries of the Lepetane — Kamenare vehicle ferry near the city is called Teodo, in memory of the Austro-Hungarian past of Tivat.

Ethnic and Religious Composition of Tivat

As a result of the former presence of Austrians in these places, there is significant number of Catholic Croats in the municipality, who make up almost 22% of the total population. They live mainly in Upper and Lower Lastva. Catholics of Tivat even have their own cultural community, called “podruzhnitsa” or “brotherhood”. Together with members of the similar traditional community from Kotor called “Bokeljskа mornarica” they participate in traditional Bokel events, wear national clothes of Bokel (i.e.Venetian) sailors and sometimes dance their traditional Kolo dance on the main city embankment called Pine. Right here they parade and even give a festive salute from their guns from XIX century.

By the way, bokel is a resident of Boka, as they lovingly call Boka Kotor, which is a huge bay stretching for several tens of kilometers from the firth through the Kumbor and Verige straits to the city of Kotor. The rest of the citizens of Tivat are Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats and Gypsies, whose politically correct name is “Roma”.

Attractions of Tivat

The attractions of Tivat represent completely different eras and stages of the Bay of Kotor life. Tivat itself is the youngest city on the Montenegro coast, again due to its flat terrain. In the Middle Ages, builders used rocks or hills provided by nature to build fortifications. The protection of such a fortified hill enhanced people to settle, establish trade relations, so the cities grew. But the local plain gave rise to a saltern that existed for more than 800 years. And the economy of these places was largely related to the protection of salt mining.

We still see the remains of these fortifications located on the islands in the Tivat area. The second half of the things to see in Tivat is associated with the Naval base founded here in the 19th century and the life of the military city, its sailors, officers and civil servants.

1. Island of Saint Mark

The huge island of St. Archangel Gabriel or St. Mark

If you stand on the Pine embankment in Tivat and look towards the bay, you will always see the island of St. Archangel Gabriel on the left, aka Stradioti, aka St. Mark's Island, each new owner called it differently.

This island used to be a place of Venetian fort that protected the local saltern from the greedy enemies from the Republic of Venice. It was inhabited by the Stradiota’s mercenaries. In the XX century an exotic Yugoslav hotel for foreign tourists was located here.

Now this island is overgrown with greenery. Fortunately, new owners don’t make any constructions on it. Access to St. Mark's Island is officially closed, but you still may ask a boatman to take you there. You will feel like a real Robinson Crusoe on the island, the framing of the old hotel is dissolved in greenery, and the remains of the Venetian fort have been swallowed up by several meters of sand and ground.

2. Gospa od Milo Island

Gospa is the smallest island of the archipelago

On the third island of the archipelago, called the island of “Our Lady of Grace”, or simply the island of Gospa, there is a stand alone Catholic monastery abandoned by monks back in the XIX century with a bell tower, “campanile”, visible from Tivat.

The church of this monastery gave its name to the island. Locals sometimes call it by its informal name — Otok, which is simply translated as “Island”.

Now the island and the monastery belong to the Catholic Church, but monks do not live on the island. You can easily get here by boat or SUP, but swimming in the area of the island is prohibited due to its rocky offsets.

The story goes that before the Franciscan, and later the Jesuits, monastery was founded here, there was an artillery position on the island that attentively watched after all ships heading towards the Tivat saltern.

3. Pine Embankment and Pier

Pine embankment with restaurants and hotels

The whole life of Tivat in the XIX century was concentrated near the pier and at the same time embankment with a square, called Pine. The oldest houses of the city are located here; now they are filled with cozy restaurants. In the past, these houses were homes for officers and workers of the naval base, repair shops and artillery arsenal. The sailors lived in barracks that hardly survived to the present days.

There’s a regular boat departing from the Pine embankment that connects the city with the rest of Dalmatia. The Jadran highway crossing over Tivat, began to be constructed closer to the middle of the XX century as road transportation advanced.

Near the Pine embankment there is a recently restored watchtower that used to protect the mansion and country house of the Venetian family of Bucha.

4. Porto Montenegro

Boat dock system of Porto Montenegro

Right here, next to Pine, you will find the recently designed and constructed multi-level main city square of Magnolia with a parking lot, city market and supermarkets. Right there, but a little farther, is a shy Porto Montenegro boat dock for locals called Kalimanj. Citizens of Tivat have always lived off the sea, and this old boat “parking” is a representation of their life and the soul of their beloved Tivat.

In Tivat itself, tourists and citizens are attracted by the elite “city within a city” of Porto Montenegro, a former Yugoslav Navy base reconstructed into an elite town. The current owner of the complex is the Dubai State Investment Fund, belonging to Emir of Dubai. Now Porto Montenegro is a kind of Montenegrin “Monaco” with numerous restaurants and shops.

5. Island of Flowers and Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel

Mikholska Prevlaka island with the Church of the Holy Trinity

Island of Flowers, Mikholska Prevlaka, Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel… this beautiful peninsula has many names, as it has gone through many eras. You can just come there and walk around, as it is quiet and peaceful. The place is especially worth visiting in June, when the island is full of blooming oleanders planted during socialist Yugoslavia. Because of their bright blooms, the island got one of its names, — it is also called the Island of Fragrances. The rest of the time you can enjoy green walking paths between the remaining houses of the military sanatorium. At the very tip of the island you will find excavations, a church and monastery cells.

The legend says that a huge church of St. Michael the Archangel was destroyed in the XII century (shot from ships). You may find its remains and foundation at the excavation site. Before this, dozens of Orthodox monks were poisoned by agents during their meal. Afterwards, all of them were canonized and their relics are stored in the Church of the Holy Trinity, built here in the XIX century. It is known that the monastery and temple complex were located here from the VI to the XIII centuries. It was also a center of Zeta Orthodox Bishopric that was located here from the beginning of the XIII century. Some of the Orthodox monks who live here now are reviving traditions of the monastery that was located here a thousand years ago.

The Mikholska Prevlaka monastery once owned the entire island of Prevlaka. It became a peninsula only in the XX century, when a road bridge was stretched from the island to the mainland during the construction of a military sanatorium. You will be surprised, but unattractive sanatorium houses are still inhabited; refugees from the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina settled here in the turbulent 90s of the XX century. Some of them still live here, other ones moved to more comfortable houses, but keep their former residence as their country-houses. Don't worry, the locals won't be an obstacle for you to walk around the island. The parking lot is located right after the bridge entrance, to the right side along it.

6. Church of St. Sava

Orthodox Church of St. Sava in Tivat

The Church of St. Sava is visible to everyone who passes through Tivat along the Jadran highway. This temple was built in the second half of the XX century. When the Austro-Hungarians left, numerous Catholics also abandoned these places. After the First World War Orthodox Serbs and Montenegrins started to arrive in Tivat. There were only a few Orthodox churches then, so the authorities of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia decided to build the main city church. They named it in honor of Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

It is interesting that the construction of the temple, which began in 1940 under the kingdom, was frozen during the occupation of 1941-1944 and was completed only in 1967, already under socialism. The temple was seriously damaged during the bombing by the Germans and Italians in 1941, and then by allied air strikes in 1944.

After World War II, the iconostasis from the abandoned church of the home for the disabled in Prčanj, a town near Kotor, was moved here and thus preserved. This iconostasis was created by Russian craftsmen from among white Russian emigrants. Now, the Church of St. Sava is the main Orthodox church in Tivat that services matrimonies, baptisms and regular worship. There is a choir at the temple; be sure to stop by and listen to the touching choral singing in Serbian.

The Temple of St. Sava is an example of a cross-domed church built in the Byzantine style. The most curious ones will be interested to know that there is also a cult of another Saint Sava in Orthodoxy — Sava the Sanctified, who was a Palestinian hermit monk living in the 5th century, the author of the Orthodox monastic charter. Several churches in Montenegro are also dedicated to him, for example the small temple of St. Sava in Old Budva.

7. Bucha Palace

Today the Bucha residence houses the Tivat Museum and Gallery

In the XIV and XV centuries, the Kotor noble family Bucha was known for its diplomats, theologians, financiers and entrepreneurs. The constrained space inside the walls of medieval Kotor forced noble people to look for leisure areas outside the city. The fortified Venetian chamber, which we can now see in the center of Tivat, became a summer country house, or “Letnikovets”, how they call it in the local language.

The lack of natural hills forced these noble Venetians to build a watchtower and robust fortress walls in 1548. This has been done to protect the vacationers from sudden attacks from the sea (pirates) and land (Montenegrins and Turks). Except from the tower and living premises, the residence complex of the Bucha family included vineyards, a garden, powerful entrance gates and a 130-meter stone path leading to the sea.

After the Venetians left these places, the shabby residence went to the local wealthy Lukovich family in 1812, and since then a double name for these properties has appeared. Bucha/Lukovich Palace now includes a small museum and art gallery, as well as a summer stage and an amphitheater, that have been built on the place of a former stone road that led to the sea.

8. Large City Park

There’s a city park close to the elite Porto Montenegro complex

Another beautiful place worth visiting is the city park of Tivat, which is very rare for the Montenegrin coast. The park contains a collection of marvelous trees that sailors brought from all over the world, from Japan to Canada. Walking in the park is a favorite routine of many Tivat citizens. Since 2015, the Tivat city park has been awarded the status of “Natural Monument”. The park connected the courtyards of the high school, clinic and sports courts. So, people of completely different generations enjoy the promenade in the park.

This used to be a Park of Sailors before, which was founded at the beginning of the XX century by the Austrian baron Admiral Maximilian von Sterneck. A monument to the botanist baron stands right in the middle of the park. Here, on the central alley of the park, you will see the busts of the sailor heroes Sergei Mashera and Milan Spasic. In 1941, they were officers of the destroyer “Zagreb”, and when the forces of the Italian occupiers suddenly entered the bay, they blew up the ship at the expense of their own lives so that the proud “Zagreb” would not fall to the enemies.

Interesting that these officers of the Royal Navy of Yugoslavia received the title of “people's heroes” only in 1973, already under socialist Yugoslavia.

Important Historical Places of Tivat

In fact, the entire life of the city was connected with places that are worth talking about in detail. Defense/logistics/economics are these “three pillars”. Thanks to the former Naval Base (you can easily visit this museum), the Adriatic Highway and the Tivat saltern, these places got their economic and demographic development in the XX century, as a result of which the city of Tivat emerged with such a popular Tivat airport nearby.

9. Adriatic Highway

Adriatic Highway is the main road of the Balkan seaside (Jadranska magistrala)

The Adriatic highway passes through Tivat and connects the countries of the southern Adriatic (Greece, Albania) with the Croatian highway leading towards the rest of the EU countries. In summer, this road creates enormous problems for the city because of the traffic jams, but at the same time it provides Tivat with numerous tourists.

In its modern asphalt form, the Jadran Highway in the Tivat area has been operating since 1966. At that same time, for the transportation of the increased number of cars, the ferry crossing received naval landing self-propelled barges (DSM). You may see them at work at the Lepetane — Kamenare ferry crossing.

Local residents Špiro Milosevic and Špiro Sekulovich are considered to be the founders of the ferry crossing. In 1896 they managed to transport Prince Nikola’s car on interconnected boats. Regular transportation across the Verige Strait in the Tivat area began in 1920 by the Aranzulo brothers, their ferry was called “Tsatara”. Local residents still call the ferries on the Jadran Railway “Tsataras”.

10. Saltern

Tivatska solila is now a natural reserve, where you can see flamingos

Jobs in these places have always been owed to the huge saltern (Tivatska solila), an important strategic site of about 150 hectares. The saltern was torn between Serbs, Venetians and Turks in bloody battles. Now the former saltern is just a bird sanctuary. It will be pleasant to take a walk here with children and seek great snow-white herons with your eyes or through binoculars.

The saltern at various times was owned by the Byzantines, Serbian despots, Montenegrin feudal lords, Turks and Venetians, but only representatives of the Grbal tribe, who still live in the valley between Kotor and Budva, have always worked at it.

It is interesting that both the Turks, the Venetians, and the Serbian feudal lords “velikaši” exempted Grbal's workers from other taxes. Even when saltern was being robbed, the hostile parties did not touch the workers, because salt decoction has always required skills and qualifications. Tivat saltern completely stopped its work under socialism, in 1964. And under the Austrians, at the beginning of the XX century, the saltern was enlarged with a brick and tile factory that was built right next to the saltern. Its chimney can still be seen while walking through the saltern territory.

11. Naval Heritage Museum

Naval museum is located on the territory of the Porto Montenegro complex

Modern Montenegro does not need a large navy, but the memory of past times about the fleets of Austria-Hungary and Yugoslavia that were based here is preserved in the Tivat Naval Museum. The museum consists of an indoor exhibition and ship exhibits located outdoors in front of the museum building.

Inside the small museum building you can see naval equipment, weapons from warships, equipment of combat swimmers and navigational instruments from different eras.

Among the exhibited ships, there are not only two submarines “Una” and “Hero” from the times of socialist Yugoslavia, but also the ship Barbara, a real veteran of the Yugoslav Navy, which was built in Germany in 1926. The role of this small longboat was invisible, but important. Before the war, it transported shells and torpedoes from the Tivat Arsenal, and after World War II it was entrusted with the important mission of transporting workers of the Tivat Arsenal to their working places in the mornings, and back to their homes in the evenings. This is how the longboat BM 58 worked on the Risan-Tivat line for 50 years in a row. For many citizens of the bay, the longboat became an integral part of their lives. They synchronized their watches by it and confessed their love on board of the “Barbara”. If you visit the museum, come to this inconspicuous boat, which was a symbol of an entire era.

Investment Attractiveness of Tivat

A small territory doesn’t stop Tivat from being the leader in Montenegro for the amount of external investments per square kilometer and per capita. In addition to the two recently constructed for more than “billion-dollar” investment projects of Porto Montenegro and Lustica Bay, smaller, but more pay-back attractive hotels and tourist complexes are now being developed on the territory of the Tivat municipality.

So, what is the secret of the city's attractiveness for investors? Of course, there is an airport and a very convenient location of Tivat on the shores of Boka Kotor or simply Boka, as they call the entire Bay of Kotor, which stretches 32 km inland. Moreover, part of the Tivat territory stands off the open Adriatic Sea.

Map of Tivat Attractions

All the attractions mentioned in the article are marked on this map.

Options for getting around the municipality:

1. On foot
2. Taxi, incl. water taxi
3. Local bus lines Tivat — Krasici/Radovici, Tivat — Lepetane/Kamp. You can find the schedule of local buses of the Blueline company on the Blueline website.

Conclusion

If you have only 1 day in Tivat, be sure to visit the Pine embankment, drink coffee with a view of the Bay and the islands of the Kartolian archipelago floating across it. On the embankment you can see the leisure life of local residents and feel the spirit of modern Montenegro. After that, walk around the Porto Montenegro complex and make sure that people are now capable of much. This luxurious yacht complex was built in just a few years on the site of the workshops and administrative buildings of the former Yugoslav naval base.

On the other side of the complex you will find a small Naval Museum. Children will be interested in climbing inside the submarines; adults also often keep up with them. After visiting the museum, you can head to the Tivat Bay embankment towards the village of Selyanovo or go back. You can return to the Tivat center through the city Park of Sailors, built by an Austro-Hungarian baron. These places will remind you that these lands were European, Austrian for a long time and became part of Montenegro not so long ago.

If you have time, take a chance to visit the Island of Flowers or the Tivat Saltern. It’s a quiet place with a lot of greenery. After all, what urban dweller needs is privacy and beauty before his eyes. You will find numerous places like this in the Tivat area.

About the Author

Nikolay Stepanov is a licensed Montenegro guide and historian. He has been living in Montenegro for more than 10 years. He makes original tours around Montenegro with a historical and analytical bias. At the same time, he tries to avoid nitpicking or boring narratives.

He is published and quoted in the Serbian and Montenegrin press, as a result he has made friends among the local scientific elite. He is published in the oldest and most influential newspaper in Serbia called “Politics”, the Russian portal about Montenegro “OpenMonte” as well as the newspapers “Vesti” and “Sloboda Reč”. In his research he uses only local archives and scientific sources.