Every year, at sunset on 22nd July, a procession of little boats, laden with rocks, head off from Perast to the picturesque island church, Our Lady of the Rocks, in the middle of Montenegro's beautiful Bay of Kotor. As the bells toll, the rocks are dropped into the sea to reinforce the island, in a ceremony dating back to the 1400s when a rocky crag became the base for a chapel.

Montenegro Apartments, in the neighbouring village of Orahovac, are offering the opportunity to watch the Fašinada procession from the water, and stay in one of their 4-star apartments overlooking the Bay of Kotor. Their boatman will transport guests from the waterfront in Orahovac to Our Lady of the Rocks during the Fašinada. There is also the option of watching the two-day Fašinada Regatta, which takes place between Perast in the inner bay and the new Porto Montenegro yacht haven at Tivat on the outer bay.

Boat trips are also available from Orahovac to Montenegro's maritime museums at Tivat and Perast. The museums provide fascinating insights into the country's great naval and ship building traditions. The Naval Heritage Collection at Porto Montenegro, Tivat, includes superb black and white photos of everyday life in the early 1900s, taken by Montenegro's Princess Ksenija. The colossal P821 Hero submarine nearby, built in 1967, will be open to the public from July.

The name Fašinada (pronounced fascinada) comes from the Italian word fascia, meaning tape or bandage. It refers to the ropes linking the boats as they row across the Boka with their cargo of rocks and poplar branches. Our Lady of the Rocks (Gospa od Škrpjela) is home to a superb museum and gallery, including the icon of the Madonna and child sewn over 20 years by a local woman using her own golden, then grey, hair.

For more information see www.montenegroapartment.eu

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For press information please contact:
Cathy Shelbourne
Tel: +44 (0)1473 232651
Email: stay@montenegroapartment.eu