Fort Mamula in Montenegro history. Boat trip to the Blue Cave and Fort Mamula, Montenegro. Description of Fort Mamula
Located in the Adriatic Sea basin desert island Mamula island is round in shape. It is covered with shrubs of cacti, agave and aloe.
basic information
The island has long been the subject of a dispute between Croatia and Montenegro. Historically, it belongs to the first country, but is located closer to the second, so in 1947 it was transferred to the ownership of Montenegro.
Almost the entire territory of Mamula Island (approximately 90%) is occupied by the island of the same name. defensive fortress. Its height is 16 m, diameter - 200 m. It was erected in 1853 by order of the Austro-Hungarian general Lazar Mamul. The fort got its name in honor of the latter. From the fortress you can clearly see both the coast and the sea. The main purpose of the citadel was to block the path to Boko- Kotor Bay.
The Mamula fortress was one of the fundamental and large structures of that time. Its distinctive feature is considered to be remarkable functionality and precision of forms, which even today look the most impressive and reliable in the region.
The citadel was used for its intended purpose during two world wars in the twentieth century, and was occupied several times. In the period from 1942 to 1943 in the fortress, by order Benito Mussolini a concentration camp was created in which prisoners were brutally tortured. Now a memorial plaque reminds of this.
Currently on nautical charts Mamula is designated as Lastovitsa, which translates to “Swallow Island”.
Description of Fort Mamula
The fortress has been well preserved and is now under government protection as historical monument countries. Today the building looks abandoned, but the state is actively developing a project for its restoration.
A drawbridge was built across a deep ditch to the main entrance of the fort. The following structures have survived completely:
- external walls;
- gates;
- loopholes;
- dried up well;
- basements and attics;
- courtyard paved with stone slabs with various buildings.
The observation deck, which is accessed by a spiral staircase consisting of 56 steps, was also made conscientiously. From here you have a stunning view of the bay, the nearby islands and the citadel itself.
What else is the island famous for?
The island has a city park where many tropical and subtropical plants grow, as well as unique varieties of mimosa. In winter, a world-famous festival dedicated to this plant is held here, which lasts about a month.
You can get around Mamula in 20 minutes to do beautiful photos against the backdrop of a picturesque but varied landscape (pebble and rocky shores). Black rabbits, lizards and a large number of seagulls live here.
Local cinematographers love this amazing island. In 1959, the war film “Campo Mamula” was filmed here by Velimir Stojanovic. It tells about the tragic events on the island during the Second World War. In 2013, Milan Todorovic filmed the thriller “Mamula” in the fortress.
How to get to the island?
You can come here for one day as part of an organized tour or on a cruise ship, which always stops at the island. Mamula is located between 2 peninsulas: Prevlaka and Lustica. The most convenient way to get to the island from the mainland is by boat, rented from local residents, or by boat from (distance approximately 7 km).
Mamula Island attracts travelers with its secluded beaches, rocky steep shores, natural beauty and unique architecture.
Mamula Island is represented by a small rocky round island located next to famous resort countries of Herceg Novi. It was once called Swallow, until in the mid-19th century the governor of Austro-Hungarian Dalmatia, General Lazar Mamula, built a defensive fortress on it in order to protect the Bay of Kotor from attack from the sea. Since then, the island has had this name.
Although it is not large in size, it was of great importance due to its strategic location. The island seems to be locking the entrance to the bay, which it was decided to use during hostilities. It began to serve as a defensive fort.
And during both (the 1st and 2nd) world wars, the fortress was used as a prison, and this place had a bad reputation - there is information that prisoners who fought for a free Montenegro held there were brutally tortured. The fortress has been well preserved to this day and is now under state protection as a cultural monument.
Today the island is famous for its city park, in which a large number of tropical and subtropical plants grow, including several unique varieties of mimosa. IN winter time Every year the world-famous Mimosa Festival is held here, which lasts a whole month.
Especially beautiful view the bay can be seen from the side of any passing ship. You can notice that all the slopes of the Boka Kotorska are cut through by three tunnels for submarines. It was once part of Yugoslavia's fighting power. The submarines fell into tunnels underwater, and the enemy never knew whether they were inside the peninsula or had already gone out to the open sea.
Today everything, of course, looks abandoned and orphaned, although, according to some information, Montenegro has its own submarine fleet. Boka Kotorska also owns a ship repair yard.
Now they are organizing on the island and Fort Mamula day excursions for tourists, travelers and artists, passing by is a must stop here cruise ships. Everyone who comes here is captivated by its natural beauty, steep rocky shores, and the northern side of the island offers a beautiful secluded beach.
On one of the beautiful sunny holiday days in Montenegro, in Herceg Novi, I decided to go on a boat trip to Zanice beach. The excursion program, in addition to contemplating the wonderful Montenegrin landscapes, included a visit to the famous blue cave and Fort Mamula.
I went on a boat trip quite spontaneously. I saw a boat on the pier that went to Zhanitsa beach (the round trip cost 5 euros), I thought, why don’t I go there, it’s still fun!
If you are planning to go, it is better to arrive a little early before departure, around 9:45. About 40-50 people were crowded into small boats, and if you arrive early you have a chance to get good seats.
How to find a pier, from where boats leave for Zhanitsa beach (with a visit to the Blue Cave, Fort Mamula): in Igalo there are 2 piers: near the Obala restaurant, and near the La Bamba beach. From Herzig Novi, boats depart from the pier near Skver beach and from the central pier. There are quite a lot of boats, they depart as they are full. The excursion starts at 10 (and some even from 9-30), returning at 16. The time for departure back is different for everyone (from 16 to 18). That is, you will return on the same boat on which you sailed there.
By the way, visit blue cave and Fort Mamula can be taken as a separate boat trip from Herceg Novi. But the price will be higher than when sending from Zhanitsa beach.
Having paid the coveted 5 euros, I sat comfortably in the boat, watching the sea views. They swam by beautiful mountains The Bay of Kotor, coastal towns, Croatia could be seen in the distance. Having rounded the Lustica peninsula, we sailed past beautiful cliffs and small islands on which formidable fortresses and monasteries were located. From Herceg Novi to Zhanitsa beach it takes about 20 minutes to sail by sea.
During the trip, the captain immediately tries to sell a trip to the blue cave and Fort Mamula (for an additional 5 euros). Usually it happens like this: the captain will drop off all passengers on Zhanitsa beach, and those who paid extra will be transported further. Imagine: you’ve been sailing on a boat for 20-30 minutes, you’re hot, you want to swim (by the way, you might get a little seasick), and then they’ll take you around for about another hour to see other attractions. Therefore, there is no need to rush: immediately after a sea voyage it is better to relax on the beach. And after a couple of hours, go for additional impressions.
Boats from Žanjica beach depart on this route every half hour.
I visited Zanice beach on the peninsula of Lustica twice. One time was not very successful (as there was a storm and we had to quickly return to Herceg Novi), but the second trip was a great success. You can read more about Zhanitsa beach here.
You can easily spend a whole day on Zanjice. The beach has numerous cafes, an olive grove, old church. If you go up the path from the pier, you will see stunning views of the bay. But in my opinion best time for sending back – 16-00. Since after 16 the temperature drops and swimming is no longer very comfortable.
Having arrived by boat to Zhanitsa, I had a good rest and swam. And then, when I got bored, I went on a boat trip to see the sights.
There are several notable islands right next to Žanjica beach. The closest one is the ancient monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A little further away there are two Forts, one of which is Mamula.
But first, our captain took us to the blue cave.
Blue Cave (Plava ?pilja, Blue Grotto) in Montenegro
The Blue Cave (Plava Shpilya in Montenegrin) is a natural attraction of Montenegro. This is a large grotto, approximately 300 square meters in area. The height of the vaults is 25 meters. The Blue Cave has 2 entrances through which boats constantly arrive.
The Blue Cave is called because on clear sunny days the sun's rays are refracted and the water appears blue. Water, reflected on the walls of the cave, also paints them in unusual shades. The attraction of visiting the grotto includes swimming.
My opinion is that the cave is certainly beautiful, but it’s definitely not worth going specifically for the grotto. Swimming in blue waters, exotic. But the sea here is absolutely the same as on the entire Montenegrin coast. In addition, when 5 boats swim into the grotto at the same time, it becomes impossible to breathe there.
How to get to the blue cave. The Blue Cave is located on the Lustica peninsula between the Golden Harbor and Mala Gora Bay at a distance of 6 nautical miles from Herceg Novi. There is no way to get to the Blue Cave except by boat or yacht. Boats and speedboats depart from the beach of Zhanica or Mirista, the sailing time is about 10 minutes.
Fort Mamula on the island (FortMamula)
Fort Mamula does not make much of an impression from the sea. “What is this concrete box?” I thought as we sailed past. However, having landed on the shore, the fortress affected me great impression, thanks to the scale and stunning views that open from the very top of the fortress. The captain dropped us off on the island and gave us almost 40 minutes of time to explore. Entrance to the fortress is free, there is no security. But despite this, Fort Mamula is maintained in good condition. It's quite clean and beautiful there.
The fortress, known as Mamula, was built in 1853 by the Austro-Hungarian general Lazar Mamula. The fort is located on the rocky island of Lastavica, with a diameter of only 200 meters. By the way, the fortress occupies almost 90% of the island’s surface. Mamula is located right at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, 3.5 miles from the city of Herceg Novi.
During the time of the Venetians, the island was called Rondina.
Today, Fort Mamula is the best preserved fort founded by the Austrians on the Adriatic. Mamula is a truly monumental structure; due to its location, it was used as a defensive fortification. And during the First and Second World Wars there was a prison and a concentration camp here. The prisoners left numerous inscriptions on the walls, many of which are still preserved today. Our compatriots, as always, distinguished themselves. Especially "Olesya, who didn't go."
The fortress is very large, you can walk around it in 10 minutes. I really liked that there were many rooms, stairs and tiers.
The view from the top floor of Mamula is stunning.
Slowly, I descended from the fortress and walked to the pier. Walking along the ancient walls, I didn’t notice how time flew by, and I was left completely alone. More precisely, the captain called the time in Serbian, it sounded like “two-fifteen.” It turned out that this meant 15 minutes to two. I, like a real blonde, thought it was two to fifteen.
There were a lot of people on the shore. My boat had already sailed about 20 meters away. I had to jump very high and wave my hat. The captain saw me, the boat again landed on the shore. My salvation is complete!!! Although in my heart, I was even glad that I would stay there for another couple of hours.
After such a wonderful boat trip, we returned to Zhanitsa beach again, where the hospitable Adriatic Sea awaited me, as well as a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the embankment.
To be continued...
With a fascinating story. Once upon a time the Austrians were the owners here, and the island is named after General Lazar Mamula.
Lastavitsaor Mamula?
The island is a relatively small piece of land with a diameter of no more than 200 m, located southeast of the city of Igalo (it is possible to get around the whole thing in no more than 20-25 minutes). It blocks the entrance to the bay, so it was initially of extremely important strategic importance.
At a time when there was no fortress on the island, it was called Lastavica - “island of swallows”, later Lazar Mamula - one of the Austro-Hungarian generals gave the order to build a fortress here in order to be able to protect the entrance to the bay from the sea.
From that moment on, the island was named similarly to the fortress - Mamula (at present, nautical charts still call this landmass the Swallow).
The garrisons hiding behind the walls of the fort could perfectly repel all attacks by any enemy from the sea (the fortress occupied 90% of the entire area of the island).
However, according to the words of local residents, not a single shot was fired from the fort. Perhaps this is precisely what explains the fact that the fortress has reached our times in almost the same condition as it was (except for the effects of time on it).
It was an ideal fortpost: it had an exceptional view of both land and sea. Thanks to its favorable location between the two states, the fort almost completely blocks the entrance to the bay, which is why it was simply impossible to get there without passing the island with the fortress. And few people even tried to do this.
In addition to its strategic defensive function, the fortress was an excellent fortification during World Wars I and II. And during and after the Second Great Patriotic War, a concentration camp was set up here.
Alas, the walls of the fort did not always protect their people. It is believed that freedom fighters were once imprisoned and tortured here.
Mamula Island in cinema
In 2014, Serbia filmed a thriller about the island under the same name “Mamula” (the title was “Mermaid”). The plot of the “horror story” was a hunt for the guests of the island by a guardian who guarded the peace of the mermaid (in the film, her habitat was underground fortress caves).
An excellent film for those who want to tickle their nerves. At first, tourists eager to visit these places were directly invited to watch a film before visiting the island for some mystification of this amazing place.
Since it comes to horror stories, we cannot help but note the legend about the dead tourists on this island, who allegedly fell into wells located between the thickets, and from which there is no way out.
There is no direct evidence of this, but this story is always told to tourists and travelers in order to fuel the excitement and delight of visiting these places. Well, and awaken vigilance and attentiveness when moving around the territory!
Desert Island in the Modern Age
Now Mamula Island - no one lives there (except for animals and abundant vegetation). The spirit of the Middle Ages still reigns here. The headquarters tower and loopholes still stand, you can look at the bakery and walk along the spiral staircases.
The pier, alas, has been destroyed, but curious tourists and travelers are still happy to come here on excursions one day, because... the fortress is not closed to visitors. Artists also come here for creative inspiration.
The area is densely covered with ivy and agave. Passing cruise ships always dock at the island. Anyone who has ever been here will forever be fascinated by the rocky shores, stunningly beautiful pebbles and clear water of an incredible blue color.
It's also worth visiting for the annual and world-famous Mimosa Festival, which takes place throughout the entire winter month. This is truly an unforgettable sight!
The Mamula fortress itself is now considered one of the largest fortifications of Austrian origin in the Adriatic. It is remembered for its monumentality, precisely thought-out forms, functionality and well-designed buildings.
The state protects it as a cultural monument. There are plans to increase the tourist influx here by creating a historical museum, tourist complex or a mini-hotel, but for now this all remains in theoretical plans.
Montenegro has a lot interesting places, and there are simply countless ancient fortresses! We went to the fortress island of Mamula on a rented boat from the pier in Herceg Novi. But the beckoning fortress turned out to be almost impregnable, it was very stormy, and they never reached the beret. But in this report I will show it not only from the outside, but also from the inside, plus old photographs and excerpts from films that were filmed here.
Mamula is located between two peninsulas: on the Montenegro side - Lustica, on the Croatian side - Prevlaka. This is an uninhabited island in the Adriatic, the diameter of the fortress is 200 meters, its height is 16 m. The island is covered with low shrubby vegetation and some huge cacti. It is 6.3 km away from the city of Herceg Novi.
I’ll show you on Google Maps where it’s definitely located. Above is the city of Herceg Novi, on the right are Tivat, Kotor and other cities, and below the dot next to the phrase “Boka Kotorska” is the island of Mamula. Please note that the spit on the left is already Croatia, a visa country within “floating” accessibility.
Of course, we asked our skipper how the Croatian border guards were doing there, whether they were strictly guarding the borders, he assured that no - if you wish, you can safely come for a visit without a visa. And opposite the island there is a wonderful Zanice beach. This is an amazing place to relax with emerald water! This is where it is better to take a boat. The photo shows the Croatian Prevlaka peninsula with fortifications.
The fort appeared in 1853, it occupied about 90% of the surface area of the island, and the Austrian-Hungarian general Lazar Mamula ordered its construction, in honor of him the fortress acquired its name, and the island itself is called Swallow. Together with the fortifications on Prevlaka and Lustica, both of which were erected at the same time by the Austro-Hungarian general, Fort Mamula was necessary as a barrier to the enemy's entry into the Bay of Kotor.
To the left of the boat is an inaccessible shore and a sailboat
During World War II, from May 30, 1942, the fascists from Italy, on the orders of Mussolini, turned Mamula into a concentration camp. The fort became a place for brutal torture of prisoners. Now a memorial plaque reminds tourists of the prison.
And now a small digression - I’ll show you the places from which they sailed and through which they sailed. After all, the landscapes in Montenegro are breathtaking at every turn! From about this place in the photo we set sail from Herceg Novi, we found the boatman simply - we approached and asked, after all, in November they don’t hunt for tourists, since there are almost no of them...
We sail on the sea and see how Boka goes towards Djenovici, Zelenika, Bijela, Kotor, Tivat...
We are all moving away from Herceg Novi, watching how gray clouds want to swallow the mountains.
Our goal is close! The sailboat is also suffering near the shore there :)
The island was the subject of a dispute between Montenegro and Croatia after the collapse of Yugoslavia. Although culturally and historically it belongs to Croatia, and until 1947 it was in the cadastre of Dubrovnik, but... closer to Montenegro, so the island now belongs to Montenegro. Over the years it began to collapse, although they talk about restoration, no one is investing money; spiral staircases, a bakery, a headquarters tower and loopholes have been preserved here.
Now I’ll show you some old photographs. Several shots of Mamula, taken in March 1919.
And the view from above. There was less vegetation then...
There is an Alcatraz fortress similar to Mamula in the United States; there was also a prison here for a long time, even Al Capone was imprisoned in it, and over time it became a museum. . And the Americans have preserved history, and tourists, cultural experts, and the same historians are attracted to large quantities. And in Montenegro the authorities do not think about preserving cultural and historical values - they want to rent out the island for a hotel...
And now about the movie! The first film "Campo Mamula" was shot here in 1959 by Velimir Stojanovic. He talks about the events on the island during the 2nd World War, about how the fort was converted into a concentration camp. Here's a short excerpt.
In the fall of 2013, a horror film was filmed on the fortress island!!! Filming lasted only 15 days :) Director from Serbia - Milan Todorovic. Here is the promotional poster for the thriller
The plot is banal, but the ending is amazing: Two American tourists come to Montenegro on vacation at the invitation of a friend. After resting for several days, they decide to go on a trip to the Mamula fortress, which is notorious. In the fortress they find a mysterious fisherman who is holding a beautiful girl captive. The tourists free her, but soon see that this is by no means beautiful girl, but a siren who is not averse to tasting the blood of her liberators.
The premiere of "Mamula" is very soon - March 8 in Belgrade. The best gift for a girl on International Day is to take her to see a Serbian thriller :)
The Balkan-ethnostop, conducted under the leadership of A. Lebedev, also did not bypass Mamula. Its participants visited there inside. Watch from 1:15. But don’t pay attention to Artemy’s subjective opinion about Montenegro (in which there is nothing to do)
And this is my video taken from the boat that November day.