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Ninety seconds on the Church of St. Nicholas
Yes on both counts. It is the cathedral church of Kotor's Serbian Orthodox parishes, under the Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral, and the seat of the local archpriesthood. The liturgy is served here, and at Orthodox Christmas on 7 January the church fills with communicants.
Between 1902 and 1909, so the Byzantine look is a revival style rather than a medieval survival. It replaced an earlier church on the same site. The candlesticks and silver chandeliers inside were gifts from the citizens of Kotor.
No. This St Nicholas is the Orthodox cathedral church in Kotor's Old Town, on St Luke's Square, while Perast's St Nicholas is a separate church further round the bay. The small church beside it on the square is St Luke's, which keeps both a Catholic and an Orthodox altar.
Between services you can step inside Kotor's principal Serbian Orthodox church and stand before an icon screen by a painter who had worked in the Czech lands and in Russia.
The church only looks ancient. Kiril Iveković drew it in the Byzantine style, and the year it was finished, 1909, is marked on the front facade. Two massive bell towers with black domes frame it, under gold crosses sent from Russia, and a mosaic of St Nicholas sits over the entrance.
Inside is a single nave, plainer than most Orthodox interiors. Light from simple stained glass panels falls on grey walls, and silver candle holders and chandeliers hang among the icons.
The icon screen is what you have come for. Its painter drew his inspiration from the icons of that time. It shows most in the throne icons, whose silver fittings were made by craftsmen in Kotor.
Next door, the treasury of the Serbian Orthodox Church keeps icons, vestments, silver and documents, many of them given by Kotor's wealthy families. Among the papers is Emperor Francis Joseph's approval for the local diocese, signed in Cyrillic.
Look in at the door first. If a service is under way, stay unobtrusive at the back or come back later. Otherwise head for the icon screen across the far end, and look closest at the throne icons, the large icons set beside its central doors.
Candles are sold at the small shop if you want to light one. Then step out to the treasury next door, if its door is open, for the silver and the signed documents, and ask there whether it charges separately. Allow 15 to 25 minutes for the church and the treasury together, and finish on St Luke's Square outside.
Carry a light layer in summer so you can cover your shoulders, and leave beachwear for the beach. Inside, do not use a flash and do not photograph anyone at prayer.
Do not confuse this church with St Nicholas in Perast, further round the bay. Plan this stop as a visit to the interior and the treasury, not a climb. On Catholic Good Friday the bells here stay silent, out of respect for Kotor's Catholics.
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