Islands of Montenegro
June 3rd, 2006In honor the imminent independence of the Balkan nation of Montenegro, let’s take a look at the country’s islands.
For a small state with a short coastline, it possesses a nice assortment of islands, both on its dramatic coastline and in lakes. Many are embellished with historic sites, especially monasteries.
Montenegrin island superlatives
Largest island — There are two candidates of virtually identical size, both about 1.9 square miles / 4.8 square km.
- Ada is a delta island on the southeast border with Albania.
- Vranjina, a monastery island on the northwest side of Lake Skadar, is formed by the lake and the incoming Moraca river. Vranjina is Montenegro’s largest freshwater island.
Largest sea island — Sveti Nikola is about 36 hectares / 90 acres.
Tallest island — Vranjina rises 296 meters or about 971 feet above Lake Skadar.
Tallest sea island — Sveti Nikola is 121 meters or about 397 feet tall. Second-tallest is Sveti Marko, at 36 meters or about 118 feet.
Sea islands
Montenegro has several sea islands of note in the Boka Kotorska:
- Prevlaka — bridged; 13th century monastery ruins
- Sveti Marko — off Tivat; has a Club Med
- Otok — islet off Sveti Marko with a monastery
- Gospa od Skrpjela — artificial islet off Perast with notable church
- Sveti Dorde — another islet off Perast, site of a Benedictine Abbey
Sveti Nikola is in the Adriatic off Budva, and has church ruins and an endemic species of lilly; boat tours go here.
The most famous Montenegrin “island” is not an island at all: Sveti Stefan is lovely and walled, but now a peninsula.
Lake islands
Montenegro’s lakes are dominated by Lake Skadar (Skadarsko Jezero), in the southeast. It seems to have 50 or more islands; a number are listed here. Monastic islands include Vranjina, Starcevo, Beska, and Sveti Dorde. Skadar also has a prison islet, Grmozur.
Montenegro also has islands in reservoir lakes, including a concentration near the city of Niksic.
[Montenegrin islands, Montenegrin geography]
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:07 pm
“Ada Bojana” is a nudist resort nowdays. It used to be so beautiful. The nature is still beatiful it’s almost like a national park with wild animals (some very rare birds indeed).