Crkvice ( sr-cyrl, Црквице, ) is a village in

Krivošije Krivošije ( sr-cyrl, Кривошије, ) are a historical tribe and microregion in southwestern Montenegro, located on a high plateau belonging to the Orjen mountain range, north of the Bay of Kotor. Krivošije was historically located at a tr ...

, on the outskirts of Mount Orjen in Montenegro, and the wettest inhabited place in Europe. Despite the fact that it is nowadays virtually uninhabited, Crkvice was most notable the location of a large

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

military base which was active until the end of World War I, when Montenegro regained control of the area.

History

During the rule of the Austria-Hungary over the

region, Crkvice was used up as the base military camp. The fortifications, including

Fort Kom Fort Kom ( Montenegrin: ''Tvrđava Kom''/Тврђава Ком, German: ''Ostfort Crkvice'') is a former fortification of the Austro-Hungarian Empire located to the east of the village and former military base of Crkvice in southwestern Montenegro ...

(''Crkvice Ostfort'') and

Fort Stražnik Fort Stražnik ( Montenegrin: ''Tvrđava Stražnik''/Тврђава Стражник, German: ''Crkvice Westfort''), also known as the Eagle's Nest, is a former fortification of the Austro-Hungarian Empire located to the west of the village and fo ...

(''Crkvice Westfort''), were built by the Austro-Hungarian soldiers in the first half of the 19th century, and represented the furthest fortification towards the border with Montenegro. During that period, over 150 objects were built in Crkvice, including military training grounds, hotel, tennis courts, bowling alley, football pitch with stands for 1,000 spectators, cinema, church, bakery, hospital, post office, stables, and even a funicular. During the Austro-Hungarian period, Crkvice had up to 10,000 inhabitants. Crkvice bakery was the largest in Balkans at the time, having produced 24 tons of bread per day. The monument dedicated to the victorious rebels of the 1869

Krivošije uprising Krivošije ( sr-cyrl, Кривошије, ) are a historical tribe and microregion in southwestern Montenegro, located on a high plateau belonging to the Orjen mountain range, north of the Bay of Kotor. Krivošije was historically located at a tr ...

was put up in Crkvice on its centenary in 1969.

Climate

Crkvice is within the Mediterranean

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

belt. While summers are hot and sunny, autumn, winter and spring are rainy seasons. A peculiarity of the littoral Dinarids is the precipitation regime as the settlements of Orjen receive more precipitation than any others in Europe. Annual rainfall at Crkvice is around . Like most of the Mediterranean Sea, precipitation occurs principally during the winter, but in the higher mountains there is a secondary summer maximum. August is frequently completely dry, leading to

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s. With a maximum discharge of 350 m³/s water one of the biggest

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

springs Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

, the Sopot spring near Risan, is a remarkable indicator of this seasonality. Most of the time it is inactive but after heavy rain a remarkable waterfall appears 20 m above the Bay of Kotor. Two wind systems are noteworthy for their ecological significance: bora and

jugo Sirocco ( ), scirocco, or, rarely, siroc (see below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season. Names ''Sirocco'' derives from ...

. Strong cold

downslope wind A katabatic wind (named from the Greek language, Greek word κατάβασις ''katabasis'', meaning "descending") is a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity. Such w ...

s of Bura type appear in winter and are most severe in the Bay of Risan. Gusts reach 250 km/h and can lead to a significant fall of temperatures in several hours with freezing events problematic for most of the Mediterranean cultures. Jugo is a warm humid wind and is important as it brings heavy rain. It appears throughout the year but is most frequent in autumn and spring.

References

{{Authority control Military history of Austria-Hungary Kotor Municipality Krivošije Former populated places in the Balkans Orjen

History

Climate

See also

References