Bar Old Town
Bar Old Town is the historic fortified core of Bar, Montenegro, perched on a steep cliff 4 km from the modern center. It features centuries-old walls, gates, churches, and ruins, offering a glimpse into the region’s rich past and ongoing revitalization efforts.
History and Location of Bar Old Town
To stay in Bar and not visit its old part, that is, the Bar Old Town, is the same as if you haven’t been in that town at all. The Bar Old Town is situated 4 kilometers away from the center of the New Bar on a very steep cliff at the base of Mount Rumija. The town has been successively built for several centuries. Primarily, the area that the Bar Old Town encompassed was much closer to the shore, but because of frequent pirate attacks, the population had to move inland. Consequently, today the Bar Old Town is almost 5 kilometers away from the sea.
Architectural and Historical Features
Bar Old Town is constituted of a fortified city lake, encompassed by walls from the 11th and 12th centuries, which were renewed in the 14th and 15th centuries. During a visit, you’ll see an old city gate from the 11th century. Beside the gate, there is a Citadela, which had an exclusively defensive character. As part of the Bar Old Town was annexed in the Venetian era during the 15th and early 16th centuries, a great number of monuments authentically testify to that time.
There are two still very well-preserved churches: the church of St. Katarina from the 16th century and the church of St. Veneranda from the 15th century. In the old part of the town, there is a Turkish bathroom—a steam bath from the 17th century—a powder magazine, and other interesting buildings. Moreover, the remains of the church St. Nikola, built in 1288 by the wife of Serbian emperor Uros, Jelena Anzujska or Jelena Kurtnejska, can be seen. Below the Bar Old Town, there are the remains of an aqueduct from the 16th and 17th centuries, through which water was brought to the town.
Community and Revitalization Efforts
The Bar Old Town, in which no one lives today, used to be full of inhabitants engaged in various kinds of trading, such as selling olive oil, salt, and craftworks. In the Bar Old Town, there is also a place called Podgrad (Undertown), which dates from the Middle Ages but is still inhabited today. This community features several old inns, shops, craft shops, and a meat market. Indeed, Podgrad includes two mosques and a Catholic church of St. Marija.
Especially in recent years, the Society of Friends of the Bar Old Town and descendants of former families have initiated actions to revive it as an ancient architectural compound and the oldest settlement in the area. From summer to summer, Bar Old Town has become very interesting to architects, archaeologists, and cultural workers. They reveal ideas and create projects for revitalization and preservation, introducing younger people and tourists to what Bar Old Town used to signify.
If you wish to explore the surroundings of the Bar Old Town, we recommend taking a stroll to Mirovica. There, you can see the famous trunk of an over 2,000-year-old Bar olive tree.