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

Krivošije Krivošije ( cyrl, Кривошије, ) is a 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 tripoint between the Prin ...

, on the outskirts of

Mount Orjen Orjen (Serbian Cyrillic: Орјен, ) is a transboundary Dinaric Alps, Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range, located between southernmost Bosnia and Herzegovina and southwestern Montenegro. Its highest peak is Veliki kabao, whi ...

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

, and the wettest inhabited place in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Despite the fact that it is nowadays virtually uninhabited, Crkvice was most notable the location of a large

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

military base which was active until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when Montenegro regained control of the area.

History

During the rule of the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

over the

region, Crkvice was used up as the base military camp. The fortifications, including Fort Kom (''Crkvice Ostfort'') and Fort Stražnik (''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 , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. 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 ( cyrl, Кривошије, ) is a 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 tripoint between the Princip ...

was put up in Crkvice on its centenary in 1969.

Climate

Crkvice is within the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

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

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 Orjen (Serbian Cyrillic: Орјен, ) is a transboundary Dinaric Mediterranean limestone mountain range, located between southernmost Bosnia and Herzegovina and southwestern Montenegro. Its highest peak is Veliki kabao, which stands at ...

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, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), dese ...

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 carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

springs, 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 The Bay of Kotor ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Boka kotorska, Бока которска, separator=" / ", ), also known as the Boka ( sh-Cyrl, Бока), is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated a ...

. Two wind systems are noteworthy for their ecological significance: bora and jugo. Strong cold downslope winds 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