Maritime portraits of old sailing ships, portraits of prominent captains, photographs of numerous high decorations awarded to them by various countries, lists of commanders, lieutenants and sailors, valuable archival documents, and numerous utilitarian items used once upon a time on ships such as sextants, anchors for plotting courses on nautical charts , spheres with a map of the firmament for astronomical navigation, a barometer, a thermometer, a canoe and parts of the uniforms and personal equipment of old sailors, are part of the exhibition "The Radimir Family - Contribution of family members to the seafaring of Dobrota and Boka Kotorska", which was opened last night in the premises JU Museum and Gallery in Tivat.
This exhibition is only a part of the rich Radimir Collection, which was preserved by this old family from Dobrot, and which, by the decision of the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro in 2017, received the status of movable cultural property of local and national importance.
All items in the Collection are the heritage of the immediate and extended Radimir family and, as such, represent the cultural heritage of this region. The rich collection, by the way, has been available to the public during the summer months in the family church of St. Mihovil in Dobrota from the 18th century, which was renovated about fifteen years ago by the owners of the collection, the brothers Vjeko and Zoran Radimir.
The Radimir brotherhood was the most numerous naval brotherhood in Dobrota. As many as 226 sailors gave, of which 110 were captains. During the 18th century, this family owned or co-owned with other well-known maritime families from Bokele, as many as 44 ships, of which 16 were large tartans and four pulakas, while in the first half of the 19th century the Radimiri had a fleet of 39 sailing ships (two barges , 16 brigantines, 11 brigs, two pulakas and one schooner or trabacula each). At the exhibition at the Tivat Museum and Gallery, a topic from the maritime field was presented, related to the contribution of the members of the Radimir family to the overall seafaring of Dobrota and Boka Kotorska.
Tivat Museum and Gallery curator Igor Lazarević thanked everyone who came and supported the exhibition.
"The Radimir family is one of the more famous and respected families from Dobrota and the wider Bokele area, especially recognized for their significant contribution to maritime affairs, which we hope you will have the opportunity to see through this exhibition, even though it only shows part of the rich heritage of this families. The Radimir family, having properties in the Tivat area, is inextricably linked with this area, especially with the area of Račica, i.e. today's Župa, and the wider surroundings, where their properties were located during the 19th century. We can trace this heritage through the Austro-Hungarian cadastral maps, which testify to their presence in these areas," said Lazarevic, among other things.
The author of the exhibition, Zoran Radimir, pointed out that shipping has been the main economic activity in Boka for centuries and that it is responsible for all the material and cultural wealth of this region.
"Maritime has brought great wealth to Bokelji throughout the centuries. The local palaces, artistic paintings, rich interiors, sculptures are all the results of maritime tradition and maritime activities. Our family in Dobrota was the largest in terms of the number of people, the number of houses, the number of ships and the number of sailors. Radimiri gave over 100 long-distance captains and over 100 officers and sailors, and over the centuries they had over 100 own and co-owned ships. It is also interesting to note that 72 members of our family lost their lives at sea, which practically means that about a third of all of them who went sailing never returned home", said Radimir, adding that the history of maritime and maritime trade activities respectable Dobrot families can be traced in continuity for over 500 years through various written documents.
He pointed out that he personally and his brother Vjeko, who after the end of his five-decade active career as a sea captain, are intensively engaged in collecting artifacts and studying the rich family past, are constantly coming across new and hitherto unknown details and information about the activities of their ancestors not only in Boka, but also in today's Italy, Albania, the countries of the Black Sea basin...
"We planned to make a family monograph, but there is always new information - new names of ships that were owned by the family or the names of captains Radimir, who were unknown to us until now. However, we will have to complete this story once and 'cut it' because this way it looks, there is no end", concluded Zoran Radimir.
Bonus video:
