It defies time for more than two and a half millennia, and its history is linked to Illyrians and Thracians, Greeks and Romans, Goths and Byzantines, Macedonians and Mongols, Venetians and Turks...
Nemanjići and Balšići dined there, it was the last refuge of Sabataj Cevi, where Miguel de Cervantes was enslaved...Epochs and various conquerors left him a legacy of numerous fountains, ceramics, stone sculptures, altars, jugs - all of this is evidence of being of close and distant civilizations to which it was condemned during its millennial existence...
Its cyclopean walls spring from the sea that surrounds it on three sides and makes it magnificent...None of that, all these post-war decades, was enough for the Old Town of Ulcinj to deserve a UNESCO membership card. In the umbrella world institution for education, science and culture, an initiative was recently launched to register the Venetian defensive fortresses between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries on the World Heritage List.
On this occasion, the ambassador to France and permanent representative to UNESCO, Dragica Ponorac, visited the Old Town. She announced that the Old Town will soon be visited by an expert from ICOMOS (International Council for Monuments), who will give an opinion on the nomination file as an evaluator. The President of the Municipality, Nazif Cungu, promised that the city government will support the nomination with all its capacities. However, one of the reasons why the ancient fortress with its impressive cultural and historical mosaic is not yet under UNESCO protection is precisely the carelessness and lack of interest of both republican and local authorities. Ponorac also warned about this, pointing out that the unfinished building near the western walls, which completely deviates from the atmosphere of the fortress, will complicate and burden a possible nomination. This is the opinion of all the citizens of Starograd, who do not even know who is the real investor of the rickety building that recently poses a danger to children and tourists who pass by.
The project of registering the ancient fortress of Ulcinj in UNESCO, whose headquarters is in Paris, is implemented by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro in cooperation with the ministries of culture of Croatia and Italy.
The idea of including the Old Town on the UNESCO list is not new. The NGO "Kaljaja" has been launching this initiative again and again since the mid-nineties of the last century, but apart from rhetorical support, it has not encountered sincere and valid legal and expert assistance. The president of that NGO, Ismet Karamanaga, remembers that in those years Kaljaja received the support of all those present for UNESCO at one of the meetings of the Association of Friends of Montenegro in Villa Vicković in Perast.
"And the president of the country at the time, Milo Đukanović, gave us his support for that initiative," Karamanaga remembers. After that, he addressed the representatives of the local government, who agreed to make preparations for membership in UNESCO.
"They even let me speak in the Assembly in order to explain the proposal in detail. But while I was speaking, I realized that half of them don't even know what UNESCO is. However, the proposal was passed, but it was stopped because there was no financial assistance for the preparation of the field", says Karamanaga. His persistence did not bear fruit even later, and the city authorities took less and less care of the fortress. Even today, the lighting is often broken, there is no loudly announced paving of the streets and lighting of the walls. Two years ago, Karamanaga met with Prince Nikola Petrović at the Palace of Venice, whom he also introduced to the efforts for admission to UNESCO and the problems that stand in the way.
"I spoke with Lidija Ljesar and Anastasia Miranović, who, I believe, also included our proposal for UNESCO, considering that the candidature was being made for the inclusion of the Venetian fortifications of our country," says Karamanaga, not hiding his indignation at the local government.
"They want to appropriate our idea and initiative. When a delegation from Paris came last year, they didn't even invite me to show them the fort and tell them the history," says Karamanaga, who lives in the Old Town and is often a guide for groups of tourists who want to learn more about the ancient fort.
"About UNESCO and the preparations, for now there is nothing like the 30.000 euros that the Ministry of Culture was supposed to give for that project. We'll see what happens this year. If only history asked, UNESCO would be waiting for us and not for us," he says.
In the meantime, the inhabitants of Starograd try to make life easier for themselves in the fortress, where the remains of the ruins from the catastrophic earthquake of 1979 can still be seen.
"The infrastructure is outdated because it dates back to that time. Society does not invest anything except for private individuals, but I think that the tourist offer is now at a higher level. Restaurants and other private facilities, as well as the Palace of Venice and the Palaces of Balšić, i.e. Kula e Ballšajve, as it is now called, offer a new quality. There is also a museum complex that now functions much better," says Karamanaga.
The protection of UNESCO would be of inestimable importance not only for the Old Town, but for the entire municipality and even the country. Many who come to Ulcinj know little about its history, and the story of one of the most interesting cities on the Adriatic is undoubtedly a lure for rich tourist clientele interested in cultural tourism. There have long been brilliant stories about the famous reformer of the Talmud, Sabatai Cevi, who converted to Islam and took the name Mehmed Effendi, his mysterious life and death in the fortress, as well as the author of Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes, who dedicated the name of the novel's main character Dulcinea the city where he was a slave, in the lobby of UNESCO. It's time for them to shine in full glory in Paris, Jerusalem, Madrid, Athens, Rome, Belgrade, but also in Ulaanbaatar, Ankara...
Genghis Khan's hordes stormed the fortress
The hordes of the famous Genghis Khan, around 1240, attacked the fortress, but they could not go further than the gates. The locals were under siege for several days, but freedom was preserved. History recorded that on their return, after the failure, the Mongols vented their anger on the old city of Svač, which they razed to the ground and killed the entire population.
In 997, the Macedonian emperor Samuilo attacked Ulcinj, but also unsuccessfully, when he attacked Duklja, which was headed by Prince Vladimir Vojislavljević.
It is interesting that during the time of Nemanjić, Ulcinj had a privileged status, i.e. city autonomy. Copper coins were also minted in the city at that time, with a flag and the words "Moneta de Dulcino", while on the other side there was an image of the Virgin Mary with Christ.
In the Old Town, Đurađ II Stracimirović Balšić, who was there until his death in 1403.
Under the Balšič Tower, where Cevi, or Mehmed Efendi, lived, there is a church-mosque, a unique cultural and historical monument in this area. The church dates from 1510, from the era of the Venetians, and the mosque from the time when the Turks occupied the ancient fortress. The minaret was built in 1693 by Hadji Halil Skura, and thus the Catholic Church of St. Marije into a Muslim place of worship.
On the third floor of the Balšić Tower, above the fireplace, two stars of David are carved, testifying to the double life of Cevi, who always remained a Jew at heart.
Across the street from the church-mosque, there are casemates where slaves were kept. One of them, who had the status of a semi-slave, was Cervantes, who, according to some information, was captured by pirates under the command of the famous commander Arnaut Mami in 1575. According to tradition, Cervantes fell in love with a beautiful local woman and immortalized the name of the town in "Don Quixote".
On one wall of the old Venetian fortress, the name of Johanni Bolani is written in red tiles. He was one of the Venetian captains and elders of the city. That part of the Citadel is particularly interesting to UNESCO.
Venetian captains dined at the Palace of Venice, a sumptuous building dating back to the XNUMXth century.
The museum also houses an altar dedicated to the goddess Artemis, which dates back to the fifth century BC...
The locals do not know who the neighbor is, they do not believe that it is a Kotor company with Russian capital
The Kotor company "Ulcinj Resort" with Russian capital is reputed to be the official investor of the unfinished building in the Old Town, but the Old Town residents believe that someone else is behind the construction. No one has even seen, let alone met, the executive director of the company, Olga Orlova.
"We are neighbors, but I have not seen that woman. Who is she," asks Gano Voglić, who has access to his basement only through the Orlova lot.
"News" was previously confirmed by the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Properties from Cetinje that during the construction, the Russian woman did not respect almost any of the provisions of the project that earned the consent of the then Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments.
The construction of the bulky building in the Old Town began almost ten years ago, but the inspection soon after found that the investor significantly exceeded the dimensions of the project, so the construction stopped. The building has been abandoned for a long time, and even though it is a legal obligation, there is no name of the owner, investor, or deadline by which it must be built on the stalls that surround it.
Until June 2009, Radomir, Momčilo and Ana Zec were listed as investors in the municipal records. In 2006, they received a building permit - 166 square meters of business space and 94 square meters of residential space on the ground floor, and 239 square meters of residential space on the first and second floors. In 2, Orlova asked to change the name of the investor, which was granted. At the end of July 2009, the Russian woman asked the departmental secretariat for a construction permit in accordance with the situation on the ground, but she did not receive it.
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