Kalaja

Ulcinj Castle
Ulcinj, Montenegro

Castle of Ulcinj
Ulcinj Castle
Coordinates 41°55′26″N 19°12′05″E / 41.923834°N 19.201355°E
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 in a small peninsula in the right side of the Rana Gulf, which is part of the Adriatic Sea. It was built by Illyrians, and the only survived fact is the Cyclopean Wall. Around this castle was developed the modern city of Ulcinj. The castle was restored many times during history, major changes were made by Byzantinians, Ventians and Ottomans.

Characteristics

Ulcinj Castle
The Tower of Ballshaj/Balšić.
Church-Mosque
Weapon storage
Castle walls
Old Town as seen from south

The Old Town in Ulcinj is one of the oldest urban architectural complexes along the Adriatic Sea. In this enchanting dish resembling a stranded ship for 25 centuries life has been booming, civilizations have been exchanging leaving their vivid traces up to now. It is a unique opinion that the Old Town represents a cultural-historical monument of invaluable significance due to its Illyrian walls, its citadel, the street net, the markets and squares, some house blocks and some valuable architectural edifices, and especially due to its town landscape, silhouette and urban plaster. It has been built for 2,5 millenniums and during different economical, military and cultural conditions, thus the old town has got the characteristic of an organic complex. It is an antique town with picturesque middle-aged, narrow and curving streets, densely joined two- and three-floor stone houses decorated by elements of the Renaissance and Baroque, and finally there is a series of valuable edifices from the Ottoman time. The oldest remnants of the walls date back to the Illyrian time. 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.

The Tower of the Balšić

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 not only the old town, but the whole surrounding. It is connected to the last representatives of the Balšić dynasty, a rich 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 in the ground floor. This magnificent edifice has a view to the sea from three sides. It is doubtless 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.

The Palace and the Court

It is believed that in the “Venice Palace” there used to be the residence of the Venetian administrator for Ulcinj. Due to its beauty and the fact that it is very convenient all the following rulers used this building as their court too. 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 comfortably accommodating guests and visitors coming to Ulcinj.

The Slave Market

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 rich villas along the coast of Apulia and Sicily, and then they would capture the owners and sell them as slaves. The people of Ulcinj kept the slaves as convicts and did not use them for any kind of work, but to get 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.

See also