Classroom lesson · Music · 🇲🇪 Montenegro

Bay of Kotor

A winding sea bay that looks like a fjord in the Mediterranean

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The Bay of Kotor is a stunning inlet of the Adriatic Sea tucked between tall grey mountains in the south of Montenegro. It looks a lot like a Scandinavian fjord — a narrow strip of calm water winding deep inland — but it is actually in the warm Mediterranean. At the end of the bay sits the ancient walled town of Kotor, where cats roam the old stone streets.

Tell me more

The bay is shaped like two big letter Cs joined together. Ships sail in past dramatic cliffs and find the water growing calmer and calmer the deeper they go. On clear days the mountains reflect in the surface like a giant mirror, and the water shimmers every shade of blue and green.

Kotor town at the far end of the bay has walls that climb all the way up the hillside behind it. Inside the walls, the streets are so narrow that two people with umbrellas can barely pass each other. The town is so well-preserved that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which means the whole world has agreed it is special enough to protect.

The bay has been busy with boats for thousands of years. Ancient sailors, medieval merchants and modern holiday-makers have all arrived by sea. Tiny fishing villages dot the shoreline, their boats bobbing gently on the clear water. On a summer evening, when the mountains go pink and the lights of the villages switch on one by one, the bay looks like something from a fairy tale.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01A fjord is carved by glaciers moving down from mountains. The Bay of Kotor looks like one but formed differently. How do you think a bay and a fjord might look the same from a boat?
  2. 02Kotor has cats roaming free in the streets. Would you like your town to be famous for an animal? Which animal would you choose?
  3. 03UNESCO protects special places around the world. What place near your school do you think deserves to be protected forever?
Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a bird's-eye view map of the Bay of Kotor's two-C shape. Add the mountains on either side, mark the town of Kotor at the inner end, and draw three little fishing villages along the shore. Label the sea at the entrance and the mountains behind.