A historic spot of the town of Bar is the Old Bar Fortress, situated on a 4-hectare hilltop just four kilometers from the sea. Also known as Stari Bar or simply, Old Bar, the fortress is now an open-air museum. The town is a Montenegrin multicultural phenomenon and it is the largest and the most important medieval archaeological site in the Balkans. Over an area of 4.5 hectares, remains of some 600 public and sacral buildings bear witness to the architectural significance in all epochs of Mediterranean history.
Its outstanding importance lies in the mixture of different styles visible on individual buildings, such as Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance, while in the period of the Ottoman Empire, eastern features were added to the medieval town.
Old Bar, the largest urban agglomeration of architectural ruins in Montenegro, is situated in the hinterland of the Bar plain, some 5 km from the sea. It occupies a rocky slope on the bottom of mountain Rumija, while protected by nearly vertical, inaccessible cliffs on the east and the south sides. Old Bar is known to have been occupied by Illyrian tribes because of its defensive position, but the first recorded mention of the town dates back to the 8th century AD. After that, the growth of Mediterranean civilizations left very visible traces on the architecture of the town.
This old "fortress town" was first mentioned in writings from the 9th Century when Mihajlo Vojislavljevic, the first King of Montenegro was crowned in Bar in 1077. Bar is famous for being the location where the "Chronicles of the Doclean Priest", the first literary work on South- Slavic soils, was written in the 12th Century.
Old Bar is situated in the hinterland of the Bar plain some 5 km from the sea. It consists of an enclosed town of around 600 buildings of public, religious and military character. The majority of the buildings date back to the Middle Age and Renaissance period. Other buildings belong to the period of Turkish occupation. All the buildings are located inside the city walls and most of them are ruined. Residential architecture has late Gothic, Renaissance, and oriental elements. The architecture is characterised by a powerful fortified system built in the late 15th century and during the 16th century, consisting of towers and linked defensive walls. There are the remains of 17 churches out of which some are conserved and restored. In the immediate vicinity of the town there are many medieval churches, bridges, and oil and flour mills and an aqueduct from the late 16th and early 17th century.
Old Bar was occupied by Illyrian tribes in prehistoric times due to its suitable defensive position. Old Bar was included within the province of Dalmatia, and after 297 within the province of Praevalis. The town was mentioned for the first time in 8th century under the name Antibareos, but it is assumed that there had been a settlement even before on that territory and that Prokopije mentioned it as renewed Roman castrum in 6th century. In the first half of the 8th century, Old Bar was the Episcopal seat, and in 11th century the archbishopric seat was moved from Duklja to Bar. In this town the King of Duklja, Mihailo, was crowned in 1067. From 12th century up to the late 14th century it belonged to the dynasty Nemanjic, and after that to the dynasty Balsic, rulers of Zeta. In 1443 it was conquered by Venetia. In 1571, it was conquered by Turks and it remains under their occupation until 1878, when it was liberated by Montenegrins. Over the centuries Old Bar had suffered from many attacks and the majority of buildings have been ruined except the clock tower, duty building, church and hammam which were restored after the earthquake in 1979. The town was abandoned in 1979.
The Montenegrin government is working to restore the Old Bar fortress-town, to make it a truly "living museum." Stari Bar's cultural, religious, and historical heritage are considered to be one of Montenegro's national iconic treasures. According to the Preliminary Technical Assessment completed in November 2005 by Montenegro's Ministry of Culture and Media, the first systematic archaeological and architectural research for Old Bar was completed between 1951 and 1959. Results of this research were compiled in the book, Stari Bar by Durde Bošković, prepared for the then Federal Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments (Belgrade, 1962).
Near the Old Bar Fortress is one of the region's curiosities, an olive tree reputed to be more than 2,000 years old.
This video shows some of the Old Bar fortress-town that is now being restored.
