Venetian Vibes at Perast Museum.

Perast Museum, Perast Montenegro.

September 2021.

Cover photo courtesy of Richard Mortel.

The boat taxi dropped us back at Perast’s elegant stone promenade. We’d thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Our Lady of the Rocks, the town’s striking island and its richly adorned historic church. Now, we were ready to dive deeper into Perast’s story as a former Venetian maritime hub. Fortunately, the next chapter was just a short stroll away—within minutes, we’d arrived at Perast Museum.

The building, formerly known as Bujović Palace, dates back to 1694. Built as a family home for Vicko Bujović, a prominent naval captain and merchant, it is one of the finest examples of baroque architecture in Montenegro. Indeed, it is well worth taking the time to admire the exterior, with its stone carvings and sculpted balconies.

To truly understand Perast, one must grapple with its Venetian past. After paying our dues at the door (€5 per person), we stepped into the ground floor exhibit, where the town’s layered history unfolds with clarity. Perast fell under Venetian control in 1420, as the republic advanced along the Adriatic coast, claiming towns and consolidating its growing maritime empire.

Venetian Vibes at Perast Museum.

Perast was a particularly important locale thanks to its position near the narrowest point of the Bay of Kotor. Here they could exercise careful control over the trade routes of the Adriatic Sea. Moreover, it would act as one of several important defence posts against those rascals The Ottomans.

Perast’s ruling Serbian nobility didn’t put up a fight. In fact, the Venetians allowed them to retain a small naval fleet and granted the town an autonomy with tax free privileges.

Perast flourished through the 15th and 16th centuries, marked by the construction of a fort, several churches, and dozens of grand stone townhouses for its resident aristocrats and sea captains. The town also became home to a major naval training centre, which went on to produce some of the Venetian Empire’s most esteemed captains and admirals.

Around 17 of these UNESCO-protected palaces still stand today, easily explored on a self-guided walking tour. In addition to our breakfast at The Leon Coronato Heritage Hotel—once the home of sea captain Marko Martinović—we also paused to photograph a 16th-century merchant house, now transformed into Apartments David, a charming five-room guesthouse.

We also loved this gorgeous 17th century palace, now home to the Šijavoga Restaurant, a traditional Montenegrin eatery that often has live music. Furthermore, we even got to enjoy dinner at another former palace, more on that in next week’s post.

Venetian Vibes at Perast Museum.

In Perast Museum, up on the first floor, there is a fantastic exhibit of 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th century furniture and antiques saved and restored from the town’s most notable Venetian palaces.

First, we checked out the recreated living room of Balović Palace, for centuries home to the well-to-do Balović family. Exhibited antiques include a pair of porcelain Chinese vases, a giant Venetian coat of arms and official portraits of numerous family members.

One of these is of Julije Balović (1672-1727), a man who made a name for himself as a skilled sailor, sea captain, polyglot and collector of Montenegrin and Venetian poetry. In his later years he became a respected judge and writer. Historians consider his multilingual dictionary, for example, as one of the earliest records of printed Albanian.

Another fine collection of antiques came from Višković Palace. The Višković family were shipbuilders, while several members held high-ranking naval and administrative roles. Among the treasures pictured below, check out the gold-plated Venetian mirror of Murano glass. The mother of pearl Japanese table isn’t too shabby either, nor is the bamboo-carved figure of a gondolier.

The Treasures of Višković Palace.

Near that collection, I came upon a portrait of the brilliantly-named Count Luigi Paolo Maria Višković (1828-1891). He was… yes, you guessed it… a highly decorated sea captain.

Elsewhere, we came across numerous uniforms, swords, guns, maps, logbooks, paintings and other oddities. Some from Perast’s Venetian rule, others from the periods of Austrian, French, Russian and Austro Hungarian occupation that followed. Here’s a gallery of my favourite bits and bobs.

Finally, if all the antique stuff doesn’t pull your chain, the museum is still worth a visit simply to enjoy the views from its various floors and rooms. These open doors on the ground floor provided a tantalising perspective of the cape.

Best of all though, is the first floor balcony where you can grab a fabulous shot of Perast and its long promenade. So beautiful.

Venetian Vibes at Perast Museum.

It was late afternoon when Sladja and I exited the museum. Next, we’d spend a few hours exploring the town’s streets and crossing off a few churches along the way. Dinner by the cape at the end of it all was a no-brainer. Off we went…

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