Montenegro: Stari Ras
Stari Ras is another old Montenegro town with over a thousand years of history. Everybody throughout the ages fought for it – Byzantine Empire, Venetians, Serbian Kingdom, Austria-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Montenegrin Principality. In 1877, the retreating Ottomans refused to surrender to the Montenegrin army, and the town was subjected to 7 weeks of artillery bombardment, virtually razing it to almost nothing. Finally, the Montenegrins blew up the aqueduct supplying the town with water and pushed the Turks out. The town was slowly rebuilt, until in 1979 an earthquake destroyed the same aqueduct again. People moved toward the coast and established a new town of Novi Ras. Stari Rus now remains as a collection of old fortress ruins and boutique hotels and some old streets with shops and restaurants.
