May 10, 2019 - The Tourism Organization of Bar is launching the campaign "Hiking in the mountains" whose goals are to popularize an active holiday in the hinterland of the municipality and promote the natural and cultural attractions on the shores of the Adriatic Sea and Skadar Lake, first of all, the Old Town of Bar, one of the oldest settlements of Montenegro.
TO Bar organized a tour of the Old Town of Bar with a professional guide for representatives of Bar Travel Agencies. The initiative for this activity was launched at a meeting with the tourism industry "when the need for additional education about this cultural and historical asset of Montenegro was recognized".
"After the tour of the Old City, a gastronomic offer was presented, where the representatives of travel agencies had the opportunity to get acquainted with this aspect of the tourist offer, which is an integral part of the Old Town tour. The visit was organized with the support of the Cultural Center Bar, Agency Riva Travel, Jadrantours, Parus, Ave Tours, Connectors, Andra Travel, and Allegra cruises," said TO Bar.
In order to popularize the outdoor and cultural tourism routes of the hinterland of Bar, there are promotional tours for the representatives of the tourism industry of Montenegro, primarily representatives of tourist agencies, local tourist organizations, the National Tourism Organization, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Bar Municipality, NP Skadar Lake and other relevant institution.
Old Town Bar - an unjustly neglected pearl of the cultural heritage of Montenegro
The old Bar is one of the oldest inhabited places in Montenegro and a city with a long and burning history, around which many army and invaders have been scattered.
Built in a place unusual for coastal towns, a few kilometers from the coast, Stari Bar is located on the summit of Londres, at the foot of Mount Rumija. In Italian and English scripts, Old Bar is known as Antivari, while Latin is also called Antibarium.
On three sides surrounded by impenetrable cliffs, the city was built in this place primarily for more accessible defense and access to fresh drinking water, which was brought to the town from the north side by an aqueduct dating from the 14th to the 16th century.
Defensive walls and the city Citadel, which served exclusively for the defense of the city, protected the interests of Byzantium in this area until 1054, when the city entered the composition of Duklje, under the authority of Mihailo I. Later the town went into the hands of the Serbian dynasty Nemanjić, when it became part of the Serbian Empire.
In the tumultuous periods that followed, the city passed from hand to hand of numerous invaders, including the Venetians and Hungarians, and in 1571, fell into the hands of the Turks during their penetration to the Western Balkans.
In 1878, after a long siege and bombardment of the city by the Montenegrin army, on which occasion the town was severely damaged, as a result of the mining of aqueducts and the interruption of water supply of the city garrison, the Turks surrendered the city and the Montenegrin army entered the liberated Bar in a victorious manner.
The city is built continuously during the centuries of its existence. Today, it can see the remains of buildings of various architectures and influences. The oldest part of the city is part of the gates, on the stretched rock, while the interior of the town keeps the remains of numerous churches from different periods. Thus you can see the remains of the Romanesque cathedral of St. George, as well as two gothic churches, the Holy Catherine and the Holy Venus.
The western part of the city preserves the remains of the church of St. Nicholas, which is believed to have been built in the 13th century by Jelena Anžujska, the wife of the Serbian king Uros.
The best preserved religious building is the church of St. John of Vladimir, located in the very center of the city.
Crafts, trade, and olive growing mainly occupied the population of Stari Bar, and for that reason, through history, they were often victims of merciless pirates from the neighboring Ulcinj, widely known for their crimes and robbery.
The Old town of Bar was inhabited until the catastrophic earthquake of 1979, which destroyed the aqueduct and interrupted the supply of the city with water, after which the inhabitants began to move massively to the new town of Bar on the seashore.
By restoring the aqueduct, the people started to return to Stari Bar, a place inhabited since the time of the Illyrian tribes, who settled in this area in the 8th century before the new era.
