I am sure that among my readers, many are supporters of self-reliance, not wanting to confine themselves to the standard excursion programs and spoil the photos with crowds of tourists covering the actual objects of shooting with their backpacks.

I bring to your attention Mount Lovcen, located behind the old town of Kotor and serving as the foundation for the famous wall of Kotor. In the old days, we liked to buy "bureks" in the pekar, climb the mountain and eat them, enjoying the view of the tiled roofs of Kotor. What was our disappointment when, in early May, my husband and I discovered that the passage to our favorite wall of old Kotor began to cost 3 euros! Until then, the passage to the fortress wall was absolutely unhindered, and now there are tables with “3 euro” signs, which are zealously guarded by young guardians of Montenegrin antiquity, who do not forget to call ignorant visitors with the words excuse me…? but now I didn’t want to pay 6 euros for such a pleasure.

Locals said that on the other side of the mountain there is a path leading to the top of the mountain, where the fortress of St. Ivan, and as if there is a passage around the guardians of Montenegrin antiquity with 3 euros. We walked along that path more than once, although our feet did not reach the very top. But not today - for the sake of friends who are visiting us, we decided to accomplish this feat - and everything turned out exactly as our Montenegrin friends told us. We found a secret passage in the wall and easily climbed through it, hitting the very top - straight into the fortress of St. Ivan! This path to the fortress seemed to us even much more interesting - up the forest path, down the stone steps of 500 years ago. Saving 3 euros per person, and several times more impressions 🙂 We had a picnic along the way. Upstairs they found an old, but well-preserved church, and the ruins of a fortress that had never been noticed before! See photos!

View of the city walls from a non-standard angle - how we saw them
View of Kotor and the Bay of Kotor from our trail, the trail can be seen below
And here is the church
Our secret passage to the fortress of St. Ivan, Kotor, Montenegro
View of the Bay of Kotor from the height of the fortress of St. Ivan
The Chapel of the Salvation of the Virgin was erected by local residents in the 16th century after getting rid of the plague
The decoration of the chapel of the Salvation of the Virgin - it was closed, but you could look inside through the carved gate

If you do not decide on this brave event yourself, we will be happy to organize for you an unforgettable tour along the mysterious path leading to the ruins of the Kotor fortress!