02Inner bayOff Perast
Our Lady of the Rocks. Built on a promise.
An island built by hand, stone by stone, on the reef off Perast where — legend has it — an icon of the Virgin was found. On the Boka Bay Tour you can step ashore at its baroque church.
The legend
A reef, an icon and five centuries of stones.
On 22 July 1452, the story goes, two fishermen from Perast found an icon of the Virgin and Child on a lonely reef in the bay — and took it as a sign that she wanted a church right there.
So Perast made a vow. Sailors home safe from a voyage laid a stone on the reef; old ships, and captured ones, were loaded with rocks and sunk around it. Stone by stone, an island rose from the sea — and on it, a church.
Perast keeps the vow to this day. Every 22 July at sunset, its boats sail out to the island tied together in a long chain, and more stones go into the sea. It’s called the Fašinada.
- 1452: an icon is found on the reef
- A stone for every safe voyage
- Old and captured ships, sunk full of rocks
- The church, built on top
- Every 22 July, the Fašinada adds more
- the year of the icon, says the legend
- 1452
- paintings by Tripo Kokolja in the church
- 68
- years of stitching on one embroidery
- 25
- every year, the Fašinada at sunset
- 22July
Getting there
From Tivat, through the Verige.
Every trip starts on the Tivat promenade, beside Porto Montenegro. The course runs north along the shore and slips through the Verige, where the bay narrows to 340 metres — then Perast and its two islands open up ahead.
- TivatDeparture from the promenade 0 km
- Porto MontenegroSuperyachts in the old naval arsenal < 1 km
- Verige StraitJust 340 m across; the name means “chains” 5 km
- Our Lady of the RocksStep ashore at the island church ≈ 7 km
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Tours that go there
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3 hprivate
BookThe classic
Boka Bay Tour
Past St. Mark’s Island and Our Lady of Mercy and into an old submarine tunnel, then through the Verige Strait to Our Lady of the Rocks and half an hour in baroque Perast.
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4 hprivate
BookBay & open sea
Boka Bay + Blue Cave
The bay’s greatest hits in one unhurried loop: the submarine tunnel and Mamula, a swim in the Blue Cave, then back into the bay to Our Lady of the Rocks and Perast.
Prefer your own route? Add Our Lady of the Rocks to a Custom Tour of five to eight hours.
On the spot
Step ashore and look closer.
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Step into the church
Sixty-eight paintings by Tripo Kokolja of Perast cover its walls and ceiling. On the altar: the 15th-century icon of Our Lady, by Lovro Dobričević of Kotor.
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Read the sailors’ thanks
Silver votive plaques and paintings of ships in storms line the walls — gifts from sailors who survived the sea and came home to Perast.
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Find the embroidery
In the museum: the embroidery Jacinta Kunić-Mijović stitched for 25 years while she waited for her husband to come home from the sea — in silk, gold and silver thread, and strands of her own hair.
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Look across to St. George
The natural island next door, with an old Benedictine abbey and a cemetery among cypresses. It’s closed to visitors — you see it best from the boat.
- Best light
- Mornings on the island are calm and quiet; from late morning the big tour boats arrive. In the late afternoon the low sun lights up Perast across the water — the classic photo of the bay.
- Going ashore
- Boris moors at the island’s quay and gives you about 20 minutes for the church, the museum and a few photos — or stay on board, if you prefer. It’s a living church, so cover your shoulders inside — a light shirt or a scarf over swimwear will do.
- Entrance
- Stepping ashore on the island carries a small fee per person (children under 12 go free) — a few euros in cash come in handy.
- Fašinada
- In Boka on 22 July? At sunset the boats of Perast sail out to the island in a long chain and drop their stones. Ask Boris about watching it from the water — and book early, the bay is busy that evening.
Keep exploring
Beyond the Verige, there’s more.
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Perast
Baroque palaces on the water
A small baroque town of captains’ palaces and bell towers, facing its two islands. It looks its best from the water — and on the Boka Bay Tour you also step ashore.
≈ 7 km from Tivat
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Kotor
The walled old town
A walled medieval town at the far end of the bay, part of the UNESCO-listed Kotor region, under mountains that rise straight from the sea.
≈ 17 km from Tivat
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Risan
Roman mosaics and a quiet bay
The oldest town in the bay, once a stronghold of the Illyrian queen Teuta. Its Roman villa still keeps 2nd-century mosaics — among them Hypnos, the god of sleep.
≈ 10 km from Tivat
Five centuries to build it. One message to get there.
Open daily 09:00 – 23:00