Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-29
THE OLD REPUBLIC OF CATTAR0
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
nee of The Star and the Chicago Record Herald

r and the Chicago Record-Herald.
prisoner to Rome. and annexed the ter
rltory to that empire.
Cattaro was called Ascrivium then. AT
the partition of the Roman empire 1t be-
came subject to Constan-
Romans tinople, was taken by the
MI Goths early in the sixth
Aone o"''oAo century. and restored to
the Roman authority by the Emperor
Justinian in 80.
These historical facts have compare
lively little interest to the people OF the
United States in this day and generation,
but refer to them in order to show now
venerable the little places on this coast
are compared with our own country,
which has existed but a few moments IN
comparison, so to speak. Cattaro was
the seat of bishop of the Roman Cath
Ole Church in the fifth century, and the
Greek Orthodox Church has had g. bishop
in residence here since the sixth century.
Nevertheless. the most interesting
feature of this part of the Dalmat1an
coast is the scenery.
Around the village of Castelnuovo the
soil must be fertile, for there is more
vegetation than we have seen anywhere
else along the coast. The mountain sides
are we'll covered with forests and on the
lower slope and the level fringe along the
waters edge are vineyards. olive groves.
kitchen gardens and grain fields, all OF
which are intensively cultivated.
A line of villas scattered along the
shore, built of white stone and roofs with
red tiles. belong to Austrian and Hun
garian noblemen, merchants and manu-
facturers. but I saw no yachts, although
there are many landing places. The only
floating thing was a battleshlp that lay
asleep off an ivy clad fortress and few
fishing boats with rich yellow sails
Wherever there is soil it is utilized to the
greatest extent possible. Several OF the
mountain sides are terraced up thou
sand feet and the earth Is supported pS
ma sonry so that the farms may not slide
into the sea- This is a health resort TOT
Austrians and Hungarians and they nave
been coming here for Tho s enethern win
tiers. But the permanent residents fish
and farm for living.
A splendid carriage road skirts both
shores of the Bocche di Cattargo the
entire distance. with villages OF farmers
and fishermen at frequent intervals, and
there is a narrow-gauge railway from
CastelnuovO to GraVosa.
The many islands scattered along the
way were all fortified once, and the ruins
of their defenses remain as evidence
that the generations who lived here In the
middle ages were a race of determined
men. and the number OF churches that are
perched in what looked like inaccessible
places on the mountain sides noicate
that they cultivated their spiritual graces
when they were not fishing or lighting.
Cattaro is situated at the head of a
canyon Mountains of rugged rock rise
1900 feet almost abruptly
Situation behind it, and those on
.ou the opposite side of the
VI Uatta1o. way are about one-half
that altitude Notwithstanding its Won
derful history it is not a particularly In
town and the hotel is neither
neat nor comfortable. although the land
lord. who is head waiter, cashier, chief
clerk, cook, porter. errand boy and fills
every other position that pertains to a
hotel, is a wonderfully active man and
puts up a fairly good meal. His dining
room is much freQuented by Austrian Of
ficers, who make it a rule to dine there
every night, although they do not appear
at breakfast or luncheon.
The presence Of these officers in their
gay uniforms and the ladies of their fam
lilies add much to the social life of Cat
taro. / imagine, and they seem to have
very good time. There Is park in which
they wander, cafe under the trees on
the water side, where they sit at little
fOun0 stone tables anu COuSuulc vast
quantities of beer, and parade ground
where the subalterns are kept busy drill
ing raw recruits from dawn to sunset.
We witnessed a rather imposing pa
rade, although ] was told that such Incl
dents are quite FREQUENT in Austrian mill
tary affairs. There is a garrison of two
thousand soldiers at Cattaro, and the
colonel of one Of the regiments was re-
Gently honored by having a new decora-
ton bestowed upon him. What he had
done to earn it 1 could not learn, but the
honor was emphasized by a dress parade
Of all the troops in the garrison. to whom
the Herr Colonel made an earnest and an
mated speech, supported by his fellow
officers in their finest uniforms.
1t is scarcely just to ourselves, how
ever. to suggest that there is nothing
interesting in Cattaro. On the contrary
l think il We had, come here first; II
we had begun our explorations or the
Dalmatian coast at the southern instead
of the northern end, we would have estl-
mated the Notifications that cling to the
rocky heights above the town at a great
er value than they have to us today.
But we have seen so much Of that sort
of thing: and the walls, forts and castles
at Ragusa are so much more imposing,
that any one who comes here afterward
will be apt to do Cattaro injustice.
Some one, centuries ago. and it was
probably the Venetians, built a wonder
ful wall up the side of rock mountain.
which seems almost impossible to climb.
Here and there at different points of the
ascent the engineers who conceived and
carried out these audacious plans, placed
a fort until they have six, one above the
other. The top one stands at an eleva-
ton of 7JO feet. clinging to precipice
so steep that one might almost drop
bullet from one Of it's bastiOns into the
bay below.
And there is church up there. too
little chapel dedicated to Maria della
Salute, which has several romantic
stories connected with 1t and a monas-
terry where Franciscan monks have liv-
ed for many generations.
There are two objects in coming to
Cattaro. The first is to enjoy the re-
markable scenery in which the bay is
set. The other, very much more prac-
tical, is to find the road that leads up
to Montenegro, the oldest little prin-
cipality in all the civilized world. That
is really the chief reason for coming,
and one can travel up a remarkable
road, a distance of twenty-ei miles
to the capital either in a carriage or
an automobile.
My advice to those who come down
the Dalmatian coast is to make the
trip to Cettinge, without fail.