Captain Visin's portrait
Round the world, 1852 to 1859.
Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Marcin Konsek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0
Housed in the Grgurina Palace, an early 18th-century Baroque noble residence in Kotor's old town, the Maritime Museum of Montenegro tells the seafaring story of the Bay of Kotor. Its three floors hold ship models, navigational instruments, captains' portraits, weapons, uniforms and furnished period rooms. It grew from the collection of the Boka Navy, a seafarers' brotherhood that tradition dates to 809 and the arrival of Saint Tryphon's relics; UNESCO inscribed its traditions as intangible heritage in 2021. Begun around 1880, the collection opened to the public in 1900, and the whole palace was restored for the museum between 1949 and 1952. The earthquake of 15 April 1979 badly damaged it, closing the museum until 1984. The first floor's central hall covers the 16th to 18th centuries, with portraits such as Matija Zmajević of Perast, later an admiral of Russia's Baltic fleet, a copy of the oldest known document on Kotor's shipping (1167) and ship models; the floor also has an old weapons room and two 19th-century captains' salons. Upstairs are sextants and chronometers, a portrait of Captain Ivo Visin of Prčanj, who sailed round the world aboard the Splendido from 1852 to 1859, and the Boka Navy's uniforms. It stands about 130 m east of the Square of Arms by the Sea Gate and 90 m from Saint Tryphon's Cathedral. Its indoor rooms are a welcome break from the summer sun before the climb to the walls and St John's Fortress. Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks lie about 10 km north-west in a straight line.
Round the world, 1852 to 1859.
Sextants, octants and chronometers.
The brotherhood's uniforms by rank.
Square of the Boka Navy (Trg Bokeljske mornarice), Kotor Old Town
Yes. Its website lists shorter working-day hours in winter and mornings only on Saturdays and public holidays, but other listings give different times, especially for Sundays, so check before you go.
The brotherhood's traditional circle dance, performed by members in uniform carrying historic weapons. It opens the outdoor part of Kotor's Saint Tryphon festivities, held each year from 13 January to 3 February.
