Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor

The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is located in the Boka Kotorska Bay, on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro. In the Middle Ages, this natural harbour on the Adriatic coast in Montenegro was an important artistic and commercial centre with its own famous schools of masonry and iconography. The Outstanding Universal Value of the Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is embodied in the quality of the architecture in its fortified and open cities, settlements, palaces and monastic ensembles, and their harmonious integration to the cultivated terraced landscape on the slopes of high rocky hills. It bears unique testimony to the exceptionally important role that it played over centuries in the spreading of Mediterranean cultures into the Balkans. A large number of the monuments (including four Romanesque churches and the town walls) were seriously damaged by the 1979 earthquake but the town has been restored, largely with UNESCO’s help. However, the conditions of integrity are endangered by development and urbanisation caused by ongoing transformation processes in the socio-economic structure of the area. Enforcement of regulatory measures for the buffer zone and the development of an integrated approach to conservation, planning and management of the area as a unity will also be required