Montenegro - Ulcinj Old town

Due to its exceptional cultural value, the Old Town of Ulcinj was protected in 1961 as a cultural asset of national importance. It belongs to the farthest southeastern zone of the Montenegrin coast, located on a sloping limestone of approximately 29 ha. Its fortification character is due to its long evolution, started almost two and a half millennia earlier, when the first civilizations hit the base of the city. Discovery of the remains of the so-called Cyclops walls indicates the existence of the first settlement in this area in the 4th or 5th century B.C., before the new era. Archaeological research found that in the ancient times a smaller structure had existed in this area, and in the Middle Ages the fortress served as an observation point.

Early Middle Ages, in Ulcinj are visible through the architectural elements (pillars and capitals of a sacral structure). The Venetian rule in the city from 1421 to 1571 introduced new elements into the architectural and urban structure of Ulcinj. They were erecting and renewing the defensive ramparts, the gates of the city and the tower. During this period, the middle part of the southern wall and the adjacent part of the walls from the west and east sides are reconstructed, together with the tower. During this period, the middle part of the southern wall and the nearby part of the walls from the west and east sides were rebuilt together with the tower. The citadel from the north and west is surrounded by tall escapades, which cover the rock on which the city rests. The stone, as the basic building material, was mostly used in pricked and broken form. The city had the seal of the East Adriatic and Venetian urbanism with Gothic and Renaissance palaces, churches and squares. Under the Turkish rule Ulcinj is again experiencing transformation which gave the city architecture a specific oriental character, which is predominant in its appearance today.

The Old Town of Ulcinj represents a unique example of the interweaving of the oriental and mediterranean urban and architectural concepts, which is also its dominant urbanistic and architectural characteristic. It consists of two parts, Gornji (Upper), of a military character, dominated by Citadel, and Donji (Lower), a civilian settlement. It is surrounded by ramparts, where some smaller segments belonging to the Middle Ages can be distinguished in the northeastern and southwestern parts, while the dominantly recognizable cultural layers of the ramparts, from roughly squatted squares in a horizontal organization, belong to the Venetian period. The parts built from cut and broken stone indicate the period of Turkish domination of the city.