Morska vrata (Sea Gate), Kotor

The main entrance to Kotor’s fortified city, known as the Sea Gate, was built in 1555 during Venetian rule, from 1420 to 1797. Above the gate, you’ll notice the winged lion of Saint Mark, the emblem of Venice, also visible at several other points around the old town. Sharing the same space is a later historical layer: a red communist star and a post–Second World War inscription reading, “What belongs to others we don’t want, what is ours we will never surrender”, a slogan commonly attributed to Josip Broz Tito, a communist revolutionary and former president of Yugoslavia.

Although sections have deteriorated over time, the remaining structure still conveys the scale and ambition of Kotor’s fortifications. Originally accessible only from the sea, the gate has subsided by more than 70 centimeters since its construction, largely due to the immense weight of its stone masonry and the unstable ground beneath.

As you pass through the gate, look for the 15th-century stone relief of the Madonna and Child, flanked by Saint Tryphon, Kotor’s patron saint, and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Beyond it, the space opens directly onto Arms Square, once the city’s main administrative and military hub and today the natural starting point for exploring the cobbled streets of Kotor’s old town.