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| Kotor
town, with a population of 25 000, lies on the Montenegrin coast in the
southern Adriatic. It stands at the foot of the Lovcen massif, at the end
of the deep, rugged Bay of Kotor. Kotor has all the features of a typical
Mediterranean town: narrow sinuous streets, little picturesque shops, antique
monuments and buildings. The main economic activity in Kotor, as in other
Montenegrin coastal towns (with a 5-6 month swimming season, mean sea temperature
above 18°
C and 2700 hours of sun per year) is tourism and sailing; fishing, light
industry and agriculture are also of some importance. |
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Historical background
Problems faced by Kotor and
some solutions:
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Salt
water intrusion as a result of fresh-water over-exploitation and leakage:
rehabilitation and optimization of the water supply.
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Pollution
in Kotor Bay: completion of a waste-water treatment plant.
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Sewage
overflow during heavy rain in the old part of Kotor town: enlargement of
the sewage system with underground retention tanks and non-structural flood
control measures.
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Restoration
of Kotor’s “old town”, the 12th century St. Tryphon Cathedral
and the ramparts.
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The
solid waste problem: Kotor is a pilot site in the Montenegrin Integrated
Solid Waste Management Project. Solid waste is first separated into organic
and non-organic waste; the organic fraction is then treated by WABIO -
anaerobic digestion.
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Environmental
awareness is being promoted by the development of a Youth Organization
and an Ecological Agency. They will help to focus attention on sustainability
and the development of environmentally sound sport
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Management
of cultural heritage and community development: Kotor is a pilot project
site for the south-east Adriatic municipality and is a test bed for other
communities in the region with similar problems - Herceg Novi, Tivat, Budva
and Bar I Ulcinj.
Kotor town would be pleased to share it’s experience in:
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preparing a dossier for the
World heritage list
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reconstruction and revitalization
of historic monuments
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water supply management;
leakage control; control of salt water intrusion; flood control
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solid waste management
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fishing
-
ecological agriculture
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the development of environmentally
sound tourism
with other towns involved in this project.
Historical
background
The medieval city of Kotor, bordered by fortress walls
was, through the centuries, the cultural and trade center of Kotor bay.
This bay is one of the most magnificent “fjords” on the Mediterranean and
is flanked by an exceptionally rich variety of cultural monuments from
all ages.
The bio-geographical conditions of the Kotor region favoured
the emergence and development of a succession of civilizations and cultures.
The earliest signs of civilization in this region are Neolithic artifacts
found in the Spila cave; there are also cave paintings in the Lipici grotto.
Burial mounds and the ruins of the town of Teuta are all that remain of
the Illyrian civilization that flourished here in the 3rd century
B. C. Next sailors and traders of the Hellenic age established a trading
post. They were followed by the Romans who built a fort for one of their
military units. From this period there remains a mosaic floor, of a 3rd
century Roman villa, that depicts Hypnos the Roman God of sleep.
Naturally protected by a steep cliff from inland attack
as well as by the sea, Kotor successfully survived the great barbarian
migrations of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages. From the time of
Justinian I, it became one of the Byzantine strongholds on the Adriatic
sea. The remains of an Episcopal basilica to St. Mary of the River discovered
near the city gates illustrates the importance of Kotor in the 6th
century.
At the end of the 12th century Kotor, as Serbia’s
main port and economic and cultural centre, had a powerful influence on
the development of education, the arts and crafts; a grammar school was
established in the 13th century and a school of fine arts in
the 14th century.
In this period between 12th and 14th
centuries the Byzantine ramparts were reinforced and a great number of
houses, palaces of the aristocracy and churches were constructed in the
Romanesque and Romanesque-Gothic styles. The great St. Tryphon cathedral
was build in the style of the Romanesque basilicas of southern Italy; it
houses the town’s patron saint St.Tryphon. The domed, single-nave basilica
of St.Luke was built and decorated with frescoes in 1195; the church of
St. Mary of the River, with a dome and roof of stone slabs, was build in
1221; the little church of St. Anne’s dates from the same period as St.
Paul’s church built in 1263.
From the 15th to the 18th century
Kotor was ruled by Venice. With the rise of Turkish power in the Balkans
Kotor was forced to adapt its old fortifications for defense against firearms.
Due to big earthquakes in the 16th and 17th
centuries a great number of architecturally significant buildings were
damaged. The remains were later incorporated into new Baroque style structures.
A strong earthquake in 1979 damaged many buildings in
Kotor; it also provided an opportunity to examine the town’s architectural
past and led to an investigation of its origins. As a result of the earthquake
Kotor was added to the List of Endangered World Cultural Heritage Sites
during a conference in Cairo, held in October 1979. Its dossier number
in Paris is 125/79.
Kotor town has, among other things problems with: water
supply; salt water intrusion; sewage; waste-water treatement and disposal;
marine pollution; flood control in the old part of the town and solid waste
treatement and disposal. These problems need to be tackled with the preservation
of Kotor’s unique cultural heritage in mind.
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Salt
water intrusion as a result of fresh-water over-exploitation and leakage:
rehabilitation and optimization of the water supply.
Between 1915 and the late 1970s all the water sources in
the Kotor region were captured, but the quantity of water is still insufficient.
The existing water supply system of the Kotor municipality, with two water
supply zones, covers about 90% of its 25 000 inhabitants, with a flow of
150 l/s.
The Kotor springs get brackish from time to time; some
of them can only be considered as temporary resources to be used until
the Regional Water Supply System of the Montenegrin Coast (RWSSMC) is complete.
The Kotor water supply company transfers water from the RWSSMC to the urban
distribution network in order to supply demand, maintain pressure and water
quality and so maximize cost benefit rations.
A lot of work still needs to be done to rehabilitate and
optimize the water supply system:
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calculate a basic water balance with precise measurement
in the network as a fundamental element of water supply system management.
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stop water resource over-explatation and salt water intrusion
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to reduce leakage by first quantifying it then detecting
leaks and repairing pipes
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reduce fresh-water consumption as much as possible by
raising public awareness and reducing the quantity of fresh-water used
industrially
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remove bottlenecks; new facilities are to be constructed
to improve the water supply system to cope with peak water demand
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Pollution
in Kotor Bay: completion of a waste-water treatment plant.
The Boka Kotorska Bay is undoubtedly the region of the Montenegrin
coast the most affected by pollution. Sewage discharge from three small
towns Kotor (25 000 inhabitants), Herceg Novi (45 000 inhabitants), and
Tivat (16 000 inhabitants) is concentrated in Boka Kotorska Bay. This alters
the background level of organic matter and results in nutrient build up.
Once the sewage systems for Kotor, Tivat and Herceg Novi are complete waste-water
will be discharged through underwater outfalls in the open coastal area
rather than in Boka Kotorska Bay. The “Kotor -Trašte” waste-water discharge
macrosystem for the municipality of Kotor to the open sea is 80% complete.
The Tivat- Trašte system is also not yet complete.
The strategy defined to manage waste water in Boka Kotorska
Bay includes:
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completion of the sewage macrosystem
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examination of the complete, but as yet unused part of
the sewage system, especially the underwater outfalls
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design of a waste water treatment plant
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maintenance and supervision of existing, industrial pretreatment
plants
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redesign and construction of plants for industrial waste-water
pretreatment.
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Sewage overflow
during heavy rain in the old part of Kotor town: enlargement of the sewage
system with underground retention tanks and non-structural flood control
measures.
In the some parts of the old town an underground stream was
disturbed by the construction of underground galleries. Now some parts
of the old town are flooded by storm waters and a great number of cultural
monuments are endangered.
The storage capacity of the sewage system must be enlarged
to cope with storm water. In some parts of town it will be difficult, almost
impossible, to replace existing sewage pipes with new ones of larger diameter.
Improvements being considered are:
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sewage storage capacity enlargement by constructing an
underground retention system
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non-structural flood control measures.
Kotor town would be interested to hear of similar experiences.
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Restoration
of Kotor’s “old town”, the 12th century St. Tryphon Cathedral
and the ramparts.
After a strong earthquake in April 1979 damaged buildings
were systematically salvaged and steps were taken to renew the affected
zones. In total over 600 cultural monuments were damaged and 110 000 historic
artifacts were endangered.
The importance of Kotor’s cultural heritage requires systematic
research and conservation with appropriate technical support. All such
actions are under the direction of the Institute for the Protection of
Cultural Heritage, with local and word wide help.
The complex operation of salvaging ruined buildings included
the excavation and restoration of buildings that had been engulfed by newer
structures. The final goal was the revitalization of houses, public buildings
and open spaces and a general upgrading of technical and hygienic standards.
The ground floors of houses have been given new functions,
being connected with open spaces. Some of the great buildings and palaces
of this ancient city have been restored to public use. The Gothic Drago
Palace now houses the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage,
the Baroque Grgurin Palace is a Naval Museum and the Venetian Military
Hospital has become the home for the Cultural Centre.
St.Luka’s church (1195), a mixture of Romanesque and Byzantine
architecture has been restored to it’s original appearance. Recent restoration
of the church of St. Mary’s of the River (1221) revealed frescoes of great
beauty; St.Ane’s church (13th century) has also been faithfully
reconstructed.
Further restoration and conservation of Kotor’s “old town”
will include:
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completion of the restoration of St. Tryphon’s cathedral
which has already been underway for four years
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reconstruction of St.Paul’s church (1263)
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restoration of the four kilometers long ramparts
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attention to some houses in the “old town”
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The solid
waste problem: Kotor is a pilot site in the Montenegrin Integrated Solid
Waste Management Project. Solid waste is first separated into organic and
non-organic waste; the organic fraction is then treated by WABIO - anaerobic
digestion.
The problem of solid waste disposal in the Kotor municipality
may be solved by its participation in the project: Solid waste treatment
and disposal in Montenegro by WABIO ECOTEC technology; one of the newest
waste treatment systems in the world. The WABIO process is an anaerobic
digestion treatment of organic solid waste and sludge. Before the WABIO
process non-organic, solid waste must be separated out; glass, plastic,
paper and metal are now routinely separated and at least in part recycled.
To some extent this separation is done by householders themselves.
Kotor seeks experience in:
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the implementation of solid waste separation and recycling
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raising public awareness about the importance of waste
management through brochures, TV spots, youth organizations (with collection
of glass, metal etc.), women’s organizations….
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Environmental
awareness is being promoted by the development of a Youth Organization
and an Ecological Agency. These will help to focus attention on sustainability
and the development of environmentally sound sport.
It is important that environmentally sound development is
integrated at every level in the life of Kotor town so that urban development
is in harmony with the natural environment and a system of environmentally
sound living is developed.
Implementation is to be started through education initially
in schools but also in youth organizations (e.g. the ecological youth agency),
women’s and others organizations and sports clubs for environmentally sound
sports development.
At the moment the environmentally sound sports on offer
in Kotor are swimming and water polo, but it is hoped that cycling, rowing,
wind-surfing and para-gliding will be developed
Associations involved in the project include:
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the Kotor Women’s Association, founded a couple of years
ago, to aid the development of this project in various ways: primary sorting
of solid waste, reduction in water demand
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Kotor’s, recently founded, Engineers and Technicians Association
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the Ecological Youth Agency which aims to educate the
population about existing environmental problems and ways of tackling them
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Management
of cultural heritage and community development: Kotor is a pilot project
site for the south-east Adriatic municipality and is a test bed for other
communities in the region with similar problems - Herceg Novi, Tivat, Budva
and Bar I Ulcinj.
As well as Kotor there are two other towns on Kotor Bay,
Herceg Novi and Tivat. Thus it is impossible to treat Kotor as a separate
community in the sense of waste-water disposal. Other towns on the Montenegrin
coast also share Kotor’s problem of balancing urban development, water
resource management and the preservation of a rich cultural heritage. Kotor’s
experience as a pilot project site will serve as a guide for other towns
on the Adriatic.
Svjetlana Lalic
Jovan Martinovic
Svetislav Vucenovic
For further information on Kotor town contact:
Svjetlana Lalic
J. P. Crnogorsko primorje
Trg sunca br.4
Budva 85310
Yugoslavia
crprimor@eunet.yu
Website: www.kotor.com
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