Mamula (island)

Mamula

Mamula (also known as Lastavica) is an uninhabited islet in the Adriatic Sea, within the southwestern Montenegrin municipality of Herceg Novi.

Mamula is located between Prevlaka and Luštica peninsulas at the entrance to the Boka Kotorska bay. This small islet is of circular shape, and has 200m in diameter. It is 3.4 nautical miles (6.3 km) away from Herceg Novi.

History

During the period of the Venetian Republic rule, the island was known as Rondina.

The island has a fort, built in 1853 by Austro-Hungarian general Lazar Mamula. The fort takes up about 90% of the island's surface area. Along with the fortification on Prevlaka's Cape Oštro as well as Arza fortification on Luštica's Cape Mirište, both of which were erected at the same time also on suggestion by general Lazar Mamula, fort Mamula was part of the Austro-Hungarian Army's contingency plans of preventing the enemy entrance into Boka Kotorska (Croatia);

World War II concentration camp

During World War II, from 30 May 1942 onwards, the fascist forces of Benito Mussolini's Kingdom of Italy converted the Mamula fort into a concentration camp. Known for torture and cruelty to prisoners, the camp featured population from the neighboring area.^[1]

In popular culture

The 1959 Yugoslav movie Campo Mamula starring Ljuba Tadić, Pavle Vuisić, and Dragan Laković, produced by Avala Film and directed by Velimir Stojanović depicts and dramatizes the World War II events at the island that got converted into concentration camp during this period.

In autumn 2013, a Serbian film Mamula was announced.^[2] Later retitled ''Nymph'' and ''Killer Mermaid'' for overseas release, it was shot on location and incorporates the island's history, featuring an ex-German soldier living on the island killing people to feed to a mermaid.^[3]

GPS [N 42.395097, E 18.558222]

Coordinates: 42°23′43″N 18°33′30″E / 42.39528°N 18.55833°E / 42.39528; 18.55833

References