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CHRISTOPHER WAS HERE HE HE HE!

Ulcinj Castle
Ulcinj, Montenegro
Castle of Ulcinj
Ulcinj Castle
Type	Castle
Site information
Owner	Ulcinj Municipality, Private owners
Open to the public	Yes
Site history
Built by	Illyrians
In use	Historical site, Private properties
Materials	Stone
Events	Skena verore, Panairi i Librit

Kalaja or Ulcinj Castle (Montenegrin: Kaljaja , Cyrillic: Калjаја, Albanian: Kalaja e Ulqinit or Kalaja), also known as Ulcinj Old Town (Montenegrin: Stari Grad, Cyrillic: Стари Град, Albanian: Qyteti i Vejetër) is an ancient castle and neighborhood in Ulcinj, Montenegro, mostly inhabited by Albanians. It was built by Illyrians on a small peninsula at the right side of the Rana Gulf which is part of the Adriatic Sea. Nowadays, only the Cyclopean Wall remains. The castle was restored many times throughout history. Major changes were made by Byzantinians, Venetians and Ottomans. The modern city of Ulcinj was built outside of this castle.

The Old Town in Ulcinj is one of the oldest urban architectural complexes on the Adriatic Sea. This enchanting place, resembling a stranded ship, has flourished for about 25 centuries. Various civilizations succeeded each other and traces of their existence still remain. The Old Town represents a cultural and historical monument of invaluable significance because of its Illyrian walls, its citadel, the network of streets, the markets and town squares and some valuable architectural edifices. It was built 2,500 years ago under economical, military and cultural conditions quite different from those of today. The old town has picturesque narrow and curving streets typical of the Middle Ages, densely packed two- and three-story stone houses decorated with elements of the Renaissance and Baroque, and finally a series of valuable edifices from the Ottoman time. The oldest remnants of the walls date back to the Illyrian period. In the 6th century, the town had two gates: the lower (Eastern), which can be reached from the sea-side and the upper (Western), which can be reached from land. It was founded in 1809.

The Tower of the Balšić (Cyrillic: Кула Балшића, Albanian: Kulla e Ballshajve), located on the upper, highest level is a citadel-fortress with the powerful tower, dominating the old town and the surrounding countryside. It is connected to the last representatives of the Balšić dynasty, a wealthy family from the Shkodër area, who had made Ulcinj into their residence by the end of the 14th and beginning of the 15th century. Later the Ottomans built the third floor of the Balšić Tower as well as the spherical dome on the ground floor. This magnificent edifice has a view to the sea from three sides. It is considered to be one of the most representative edifices of mediaeval architecture in Montenegro. Nowadays it is used as a gallery or a location for organizing poets' nights.

It is believed that the castle was the residence of the Venetian administrator for Ulcinj in the “Venice Palace”. As a result of its beauty and convenience subsequent rulers also used this building as their court. Not far away from the Palace of Venice on the southern level of the Old Town, there is a beautiful edifice called “Dvori Balšića”. Both these exclusive edifices are now used for luxuriously accommodating guests and visitors coming to Ulcinj.

In front of the Church-Mosque in the Old Town there is a small square, once the Slave Square (Albanian: Tregu i Peshkatarve, Tregu i Skllevërve or Tregu i Servantesit). It is surrounded by arches, due to the fact that since the middle of the 17th century Ulcinj had become a significant slave market. These slaves used to be captured by Ulcinj pirates. Most of the slaves in Ulcinj came from Italy and Dalmatia. The Ulcinj pirates mostly robbed people residing in rich villas along the coast of Apulia and Sicily, then they would capture them and sell them as slaves. The people of Ulcinj treated the slaves as convicts and did not use them for any kind of work, but used them as hostages to demand the ransom from their relatives, friends, or countrymen of the captured people. Therefore, they had to make it possible for the slaves to send messages to their homes or relatives, in order to inform the family or the municipality about their members to have been made into slaves in Ulcinj, so that they would come to offer the ransom. Since the middle of the 18th century the tastes have changed, so that the courtiers began to look for slaves from Africa. Later they would have been sold again or brought to Ulcinj, where they soon became free citizens and they would be involved in agriculture and seafaring. There is a small community of their descendants still living in Ulcinj.

There has always been the water cult in Ulcinj. It is believed that the image of Bindus, the Illyrian God of water and the sea, was carved into the walls of the Old Town. Many fountains used to be built in the area of this town for people's use, but for the souls of the dead too. A legend says that it is better to make a fountain than a sacral building. Therefore, in the town only there used to be more than 30 of them. Today there are just half remaining.

Fountains were built as endowments (vakf) of individuals. They were made of stone and were decorated by an incised tarih("date"^[1] in Turkish) – the year of construction. The fountains in Ulcinj decorate the town by their beauty and the fact that they were harmoniously adapted to the environment where they were made. The inscription contains the name of the benefactor who made the fountain, usually with the wish and message that those who would get the nafaka("compassionate allowance" ^[2] in Turkish) – chance to take just a sip of water from it, say a prayer for him and wish him a place in wonderful Jannah.

The fountain in the Old Town was made in 1749-50. Water was captured at 600 metres northwest from the fortress, near the place called Çinari(Çinar means Plane Tree^[3] in Turkish and suffix "-i" at the end gives the meaning "of/ belonging"). At this place there were a lot of reservoirs where the rainwater was collected, which would then be used by the citizens of the Old Town in case there was a siege. The most frequently sung fountain in Ulcinj is Kroni i zanave – Fairy's water, which is located on the northwestern side in the Valdanos grove. There are a lot of stories and legends about this beneficial and marvelous water. In the Ulcinj olive groves there are ten more nicely-made water springs, Begut, Mustafës, Doçinës, Salkikinës, the Sailor's etc. In the pine wood there is the famous Ladies Beach with its sulfur springs, which are the right elixir for barren women.

Doctors from the former Yugoslavia used to recommend to children who had asthma problems to walk in the Ulcinj Pine Wood in the morning and to rinse their throats with sea water.

• Ulcinj
• Rozafa Castle
• Illyrians
• Tourism in Montenegro
• Church-Mosque of Ulcinj