Perast
Perast features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Kotor. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type village
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Kotor Kotor guide
About Perast
A tiny Baroque town of stone palaces and sea captains, strung along the shore below St Elijah hill, watched over by the bay's tall Baroque bell tower.
Perast is a small historic town on the Bay of Kotor, a few kilometres north-west of Kotor, set on a cape below St Elijah hill overlooking the Verige Strait. First documented in 1336 as a fishing village, it grew wealthy under Venetian rule from 1420 to 1797 and reached its golden age in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In that period roughly twenty Baroque palaces and around nineteen churches were built for a town of sea captains and shipowners.
Its landmark is the parish church of St Nicholas, whose tall Baroque campanile, about 55 metres high, is commonly called the tallest on the bay; a grander church planned behind it was left unfinished. Perast ran a celebrated nautical school and in 1654 repelled an Ottoman siege. Two islets lie offshore: natural St George and man-made Our Lady of the Rocks. Today the town has about 237 residents.
Did you know? The line Peter the Great studied here is a shortcut. The Tsar himself never came; around 1698 he sent Russian naval cadets to train under the Perast sea-captain Marko Martinović, a master of navigation.
How long is a visit to Perast?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for Perast. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Perast worth your time?
Perast is among the 12 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Kotor, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Kotor
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Perast and read more:
Day 2 of the Kotor in 2 days itinerary →
Updated: