Ulcinj Old town

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Ulcinj Old town is part of the Tentative list of Montenegro in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

Ulcinj Old town is an example of a town that has woven together oriental and Mediterranean urban and architectural concepts, developed over historical periods from Iliro-Greek to medieval to Venetian and Ottoman. The town is surrounded by city walls, and is divided into an upper town, which was developed by the military, and a lower town, which was settled by civilians. Ulcinj displays a variety of housing types, including traditional houses with Greek-Ionic influenced porches; homes with Mediterranean style porches along the length of the façade; and more recent residences demonstrating Oriental-Ottoman organizational principles.

Map of Ulcinj Old town

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The coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.

Community Reviews

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Szabolcs Mosonyi

Hungary - 14-Mar-25 -

Ulcinj Old town (T) by Szabolcs Mosonyi

Though I've read plenty of reviews here, this is my first one and I'm still a bit uncertain how to approach reviewing sites. It would be easy to just rate based on how I enjoyed a place and I certainly liked Ulcinj. It has a really nice location right by the Adriatic: there's a small sandy beach in the very centre, overlooked by a mosque, which gives it an exotic flair. Added to all this is the TWHS Old Town on a small rocky outcrop, once again spectacularly located. 

However, when visiting a WHS, I expect something spectacular and/or unique. I always check if there's a WHS or TWHS when planning a trip but I'll gladly skip, say, an industrial or prehistoric site and opt for an unlisted pretty town or scenic natural spot instead. Ulcinj wasn't even a TWHS when I visited in 2017, it was added the following year. The reason I went there was that I found it interesting that it's the only place in Montenegro with an Albanian (and Muslim) majority, plus it looked nice on photos.

It was indeed nice and had a different vibe due to its Albanian population, though the centre is really small (and the TWHS old town is even smaller, really just a few houses and a castle of modest dimensions), the rest of the town is quite modern and a bit chaotic. I think it's worth a visit but there are simply so many beautiful towns along the Adriatic with so much history, I struggle to see the OUV in Ulcinj.  


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