Fort Oštro and the first defensive line at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor - 19th century Austro-Hungarian military architecture

Abstract

[EN] The Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the middle of the 19th century not only strengthened its defensive line toward the Ottoman territories in the hinterland of the Bay of Kotor, but also constructed a network of shoreline defences to safeguard its newly acquired territories from naval attacks. As part of the same initiative, the sea entrance to the Bay of Kotor, strategically very important part of the Adriatic coast at the time, was also fortified. Three forts were built as the first defensive line, one on the cape Ostro, one on the islet Žanjica, called Mamula, and the third one on the Cape Arza. Their bases were stone-built casemates with flanking guns and open mercer batteries placed on platforms. Unfortunately, they became obsolete very quickly because they could not meet modern defensive requirements. Given that they were very visible and therefore an easy target for increasingly sophisticated naval weapons, a number of minor and major adjustments were made over time that resulted in changes and adjustments to the building structure. With the end of the importance and political influence of Austria-Hungary, the fortification systems it built lost their value and deteriorated over time. Today, they not only reflect an important historical and political moment, the way of warfare and defence at that time, but also the monarchy's need for the appearance of forts to be a combination of certain architectural taste and military needs.