after strolling kotor's stari grad, you should have warmed up enough for a walk up to tvr?ave kotora or the castle of san giovanni or castle of st john for stupendous vistas of the fjord and a fabulous birds-eye-view of the old town of kotor, montenegro.while this rigorous walk up to kotor’s castle of san giovanni (or the castle of st john as english-speaking tourists call it) is not strictly-speaking a climb, it's more what a guide friend of ours in australia calls a ?huff ?n? puff? hike ? because you will be ascending approximately 1,350 stairs to a height of 1,200 metres. phew.these formidable fortress walls date back to medieval times, built on and off between the 9th and 19th centuries, and built by everyone from the byzantines to the venetians. while the ramparts may appear dilapidated in parts, they are actually remarkably well preserved and you especially notice this from any of the city gates.from the opposite side of the bay at muo, our ‘home’ for two weeks, you can clearly see how the walls form a ring around what was once kotor's old urban centre, in order to protect the city. this is most visible at night when the ramparts are illuminated. see terence's magical time-lapse sequence to see what i mean.
