Ulcinj Old Town

The old town of Ulcinj occupies a rock promontory above the sea in the far south of Montenegro, walled and layered with Illyrian, Roman, Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman building. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was a corsair base, and the slave market in the square below the walls operated into the nineteenth century. A museum in the former mosque holds finds from the site, and the walls give views along the coast towards Albania.

What you actually see

• The walls - fortifications built and rebuilt from the Illyrian period onwards.
• The museum - the collection in the former mosque within the walls.
• The slave market square - the space below the walls where the trade was carried on.
• The coastal view - the shore running south towards the Albanian border.

When to go

May to October is the season; the coast is hot in July and August. Mornings are best for the walls. Much closes outside summer.

Honest expectations

Parts of the old town remain damaged from the 1979 earthquake and restoration is incomplete. Some buildings inside the walls are private hotels. Summer crowds fill the narrow lanes.

Nearby

Velika Plaza is southeast, and Ada Bojana is beyond it.