A designated natural monument and the public swimming area at Bajova kula give Dražin Vrt a clear connection to nature and swimming. The marine theme links the protected areas of Dražin Vrt and Sopot, while Kotor, as the wider travel destination, provides its own landscape and cultural setting.

Nature and swimming area in Dražin Vrt

The natural monument in Dražin Vrt covers 1.34 hectares and lies within an integrated coastal and marine protected area in the Bay of Kotor. It was designated in 2024, is classified under IUCN Category IV, and protects ecologically significant species and habitats along the coast and in the sea. Thus, alongside the natural monument’s modest size, the broader context of coastal and marine conservation is also in focus.

Bajova kula is the named public swimming area in Dražin Vrt and is one of the swimming areas monitored by the Municipality of Kotor. Municipal monitoring relates to the summer tourist season. The swimming area is therefore a practical point of reference for visitors interested in the coast, while its seasonal designation is a separate consideration when planning a visit.

Another marine feature concerns the protected areas of Dražin Vrt and Sopot: they are associated with a coralligenous community of golden coral (Savalia savaglia), considered the largest in the Mediterranean.

Kotor as the wider landscape setting

The natural and cultural landscape region within the wider travel destination of Kotor lies in the Bay of Kotor on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast. It covers 14,600 hectares and includes two connected bays surrounded by mountains that rise steeply to almost 1,500 metres. The landscape also includes cultivated terraces on the slopes of high, rocky hills. Both fortified and unfortified towns, settlements, palaces, and monastic complexes form part of this cultural landscape.

Kotor itself is considered an authentically preserved small town, with urban planning integrated into the landscape. Following the 1979 earthquake, the most important monuments and historic urban areas of the natural and cultural landscape region were carefully restored and reconstructed under the auspices of UNESCO. The Kotor setting thus brings together the bays and mountainous terrain with a history of settlements and buildings.

Culture and the calendar year in Kotor

Kotor’s traditional Winter Carnival takes place every year in February. Another tradition is the central public celebration of Saint Tryphon, the patron saint of Kotor and the Diocese of Kotor. It is considered the only surviving medieval religious civic event in present-day Montenegro. These two examples offer different glimpses of the events calendar: a carnival held every February and a religious civic tradition with medieval origins.

KotorArt also offers a glimpse into the cultural life of the wider travel destination. Its focus on art music dates back to 2002; since 2009, KotorArt has also included many other art forms. Projects, workshops, lectures, and publications are among the programme offerings outside the summer festival.

The Perast City Museum preserves extensive archival material on the town’s history dating from the mid-15th century onwards. It is housed in Captain Vicko Bujović’s palace, built in 1694. In Kotor, the original collection of the Maritime Museum of Montenegro was opened to the public in 1900. These two examples have different historical focuses: the archive on Perast’s history and the original collection of the Maritime Museum in Kotor.

Discover more destinations: Radanovići, Strp, Dobrota, Jaz, Perast, Tresnjica, Ljesevici, Donji Orahovac.

Go to the wider travel overview: Kotor.