A monument to the leaders of the 1918 Boka mutiny and several churches dating from different centuries give Škaljari a clear cultural and historical focus. Architectural history, later restorations, and local remembrance come together here. The wider travel destination of Kotor adds a broader natural and cultural landscape to this perspective.
Churches from Several Centuries
The Church of St. Dujma in Škaljari is a single-nave stone building from the 19th century, with a semicircular apse and a bell tower. It was restored in 2004 and returned to religious use; check locally whether it is currently open to visitors. St. Dujma is also considered the southernmost church dedicated to this saint. The Church of St. Luke was first mentioned in the 16th century; its present appearance dates from the 17th or 18th century. The Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Škaljari was built in 1846, modeled on the Church of St. Luke in Kotor. These different dates therefore refer to different things: a first mention, the dating of the present appearance, and a year of construction.
Other churches add to the picture. The Church of St. Mihovil was built in 1865 in the southern part of Kotor Cemetery. The Church of Our Lady of the Snows dates from 1903 and stands among mature pine trees, behind a walled entrance. The Church of St. Vincent was built in 1828 as a single-nave stone building. These specific architectural forms and dates offer different points of reference for exploring local architectural history. If you wish to visit individual churches or the cemetery, check current access arrangements locally.
Remembrance and the Cemetery
The monument in Škaljari commemorates František Raš, Antun Grabar, Jerko Šižgorić, and Mato Brničević, the leaders of the 1918 Boka mutiny. It was designed by Anđelka and Stevo Marović. The four names turn the commemoration of a historical event into a remembrance of specific individuals.
Škaljari Cemetery also has a European connection: it is a member of the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe; its membership was officially announced in 2020. The cemetery has also been awarded European Heritage status. If you are planning a visit, check the current visitor arrangements locally. This distinguishes the cemetery memorial from the churches: the focus here is on the cemetery’s history and its institutional recognition.
Kotor as a Broader Landscape Setting
Within the wider travel destination of Kotor, the natural and cultural region of Kotor lies in the bay of the same name, 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. Within this landscape, fortified and open towns, settlements, palaces, and monastic complexes are interwoven with cultivated terraces on the slopes of rocky hills.
Kotor is an authentically preserved small town whose urban planning is integrated into the landscape. After the 1979 earthquake, the most important monuments and historic urban areas of the natural and cultural region were carefully restored and reconstructed under the auspices of UNESCO. For travel planning, these are two different scales: Škaljari focuses on specific churches, the cemetery, and memorial sites; Kotor opens up a view of the broader landscape and its historic urban planning.
Discover more destinations: Radanovići, Zagora, Tresnjica, Kotor, Jaz, Perast, Donji Orahovac, Kovaci
Go to the overview of the wider travel destination: Kotor.
