Fortifications of Kotor

The Fortifications of Kotor are an integrated system of ramparts, towers, bastions, gates and cisterns enclosing the medieval town of Kotor in Montenegro, with foundations from the Illyrian period, a Byzantine rebuilding under Justinian I in the sixth century, and the bulk of the surviving structure raised under Venetian rule from 1420 onward. The outer wall runs 4.5 kilometers, standing as much as 20 meters high and between 2 and 16 meters thick, and among its features are the Sea Gate of 1555, the hilltop San Giovanni castle at 280 meters elevation, the Bembo Bastion of 1540, and the Kampana tower and citadel. Successive builders from Illyria, Byzantium, Venice and Austria all left their mark on the fortifications, making the walls a layered record of the town changing rulers. UNESCO listed the fortifications as a World Heritage Site in 1979 and again in 2017 as part of the Venetian Works of Defence. Largely abandoned since 1918, the walls have suffered from neglect, earthquakes and erosion, though restoration efforts have been proposed.