23 April 2019 - The fortress walls of the Old Town Budva, which reveal the marvellous Budva Riviera, are officially open for visitors, and the entry ticket price is two euros.
As announced from the Museums and Galleries of Budva, the price of the ticket includes a brochure about the history of the fortress wall, which interested visitors can request in English, Russian, Montenegrin and soon in the German language.
The access to the fortress walls of the Old Town Budva is currently available from 10 am to 6 pm. Starting from June 1, the working hours will be from 10 am to 8 pm.
Budva represents one of the oldest urban centres on the Adriatic, being more than 2,500 years old.
As vividly illustrated by Way to Monte, the mighty fortress wall around the Old Town Budva in Montenegro was rebuilt by the Venetians during the Renaissance after a devastating earthquake in the 17th century. The first defensive constructions of the city were erected at this location in the 9th century, and one of the ancient fortress walls was part of the Benedictine monastery that overlooked the coast. According to ancient engravings in the Museum of Budva, the city fortifications of the 16th century have six somewhat elongated towers and one round tower, between which there are stretched thick walls laid out of hewn stone. Its borders were unchanged for several centuries, as the number of residents of the city did not exceed 1000 people.
After the massive earthquake in Montenegro on April 15, 1979, Old Town Budva and its fortification wall were destroyed for the second time, and restored only later in 1987. To date, the Old Town Budva is an architectural monument of antiquity and is protected by UNESCO. The Old Town Budva is a whole open-air museum with a great number of attractions, cultural sites and historical monuments where people still live in medieval buildings of hewn stone. Its protective fortress walls are a famous tourist attraction, since the whole Budva Riviera is visible from the site. From this viewpoint, visitors can observe the modern residential part of Budva, fishing boats and luxurious yachts, various churches and temples, as well as ancient streets and ancient inner courtyards.
Narrow aisles and staircases on the fortress walls of the city are found in several places of Old Town Budva. One of these passages to the fortress is located near the gate opposite the hotel Avala. To get to it, a visitor just needs to go inside the Old Town, immediately turn left and go through the summer terrace of the Mozart restaurant.
The fortress wall has a shape of a horseshoe, which means that it is not closed and visitors cannot make a full circle around the Old Town. Despite this, they can spend a lot of time looking at the brickwork and ancient loopholes, as well as enjoy stunning panoramic views of the Adriatic Sea, the mighty rocks, the marvellous nature of Montenegro and the coastal settlements.
