Perast is a small town located on the shore of the Bay of Kotor. There are no beaches here, but the town offers a unique atmosphere of a seaside resort and historic buildings.
Today, the city has only 300 inhabitants, but in the past it competed with Kotor for dominance in this part of the coast. During the Venetian rule from the 15th century, there was a large shipbuilding center here, and the port served merchant ships entering the Bay.
A reminder of Perast's heyday is its historic stone buildings. The most valuable monument here is the fifteenth century church of St. St. Nicholas with the highest bell tower on the east Adriatic coast. Among the buildings there are several other, mostly smaller, Baroque temples.
In addition to the historic churches in the Old Town, there are also palaces belonging in the past to the city's most prominent merchant and noble families. The palaces of the Zmajević, Smekija, Viskovic and Bujović families are among the most beautiful. The last one now houses the City of Perast Museum.
Opposite the town, in the waters of the Bay of Kotor, there are two islets. The first of these, St. George's Island George's is not available to tourists. A monastery stands on it and within it the most important inhabitants of the city were buried in the past. The island is very picturesque because the buildings are planted with cypresses. The second of the islands was artificially created in the place of the rock on which the miraculous image of the Mother of God was found. In this place ships filled with stones were sunk, which became the basis of the island. On it stands the Church of Our Lady on the Rock, which can be reached by boat.
