PI Museums Kotor – Museum of the City of Perast is realizing the project “Long tradition of maritime sciences” in cooperation with the Secondary Maritime School Kotor. The cooperation between museum and school aimed at spreading knowledge on intangible and material heritage of the Perast museum and Boka Kotorska, history, way of life, seafaring, maritime trade and distinguished individuals of the region, the difference between navigation instruments in the past and now, the Boka navy that is the oldest maritime organization, maritime school in Perast and finally the importance of underwater heritage.

Students of the third and fourth grade (nautical science) followed lectures on heritage, museum artifacts and cultural goods that are deposited in our institution. Topics covered our rich maritime history in the Boka region, primarily Perast and Kotor, as well as experiences of the lecturers – seafarers, gained during their seafaring and education. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the lecturers, for the first time alumni of Maritime High school Kotor gathered, and it is clear that for the future cooperation it is very important to strengthen contacts between the museum and the school.

Emphasis is on the cooperation between institutions that are committed to raising awareness on maritime material and intangible cultural heritage that is mainly stored in the Perast museum in collections dedicated to maritime heritage and Perast school of Marko Martinovic from 1698.

Additionally, it was determined that only a small number of students has visited Perast museum. Although in Maritime High school there is a small display of distinguished people from Perast, navigation instruments and models of sailing ships, there is a clear need to continue efforts on raising awareness and education, through organization of exhibitions and lectures, presentations and workshops, and accordingly to prepare school premises.

The project aroused great interest, and the achieved cooperation became an impulse for the networking of maritime actors.

Educating in an informal way all generations about the maritime past and spreading knowledge about the area where local people were born or live, and which is a protected cultural, historical and natural area on the UNESCO list, is one of the obligations of museum institutions. The museum must be a good example and indicator of the value of the area, which, through the museum’s collections, speaks precisely about prominent personalities, their legacy and people who contributed to the development of the area, which we are obliged to leave and preserve for future generations.

The lecture in Oct 2021 was held by the members of the Boka Navy, which is the oldest maritime association in the world, on the topic “Review of the history of maritime affairs in the Bay of Kotor”. In the amphitheater of the Secondary Maritime School, third grade students had the opportunity to listen to presentations by Miroslav Vukičević, MA, and Slaven Staničić. The lectures were very skillfully conceived, and in addition to information about the Boka Navy Kotor, as the oldest naval organization in the world, attendees could hear about the history of maritime affairs in the Boka Kotorska.

As lecturers and experienced seafarers, as well as pedagogues, Vukičević, MA, teaching associate at the Faculty of Maritime Studies in Kotor, and Mr. Staničić, instructor at the Azalea Training Center in Bijela, with a presentation on the topic of history, shared some of their experiences of sailing. way, also produced quality interaction with the high school students present. Mr. Staničić also spoke about the difference between navigational instruments then and now.

Lectures entitled “The importance of maritime and trade, as well as respected personalities from the mentioned sphere”, were held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021. The presenters were the captain of the long voyage Nikola Peranović and the head of the Museum of the City of Perast, the curator of the Maritime Collection, Mrs. Danijela Đukić.

Nikola Peranović told the students about the first encounter with the ship, written and unwritten rules of life on it and tips on how to keep a ship’s log.

“The first boarding and the first working day are traumatic for all seafarers. You arrive in a new environment, the same day you settle in, you get work equipment, the senior officers first of all introduce you to the duties in case of fire and leaving the ship. In the first seven days, you get to know the crew and the structure of the ship. You must learn the titles and hierarchies on the ship very quickly, as well as the duties, obligations and authorities “, reminded Peranović.

He also talked about what is not allowed on board.

“The list is quite long. However, I would single out what is strictly forbidden. These are: being late for work, doing work for which you are not trained, doing work for which you are not in charge because on board the duties of crew members do not overlap, working without protective equipment, mentioning in a negative context another religion and nation, sitting on a bridge, starting a meal before the arrival of the oldest officer, come improperly dressed on deck and in common areas, bet on the boat, leave the recreation rooms untidy, post pictures on social networks from the workplace, throw garbage into the sea, make noise, move without HTZ equipment at work ” , said, among other things, Peranović.

In the second part of the lecture, the head of the Museum of the City of Perast and museum advisor Danijela Đukić, had a presentation on the importance of maritime objects kept in the Museum of the City of Perast and famous sailors who left a mark in the maritime history of our region.

“The oldest kept document about the construction of the sailing ship in Perast dates from 1336. It is believed that the history of shipbuilding in Boka began even earlier, and our area gradually developed and went through several reigns. This, among other things, conditioned the development of the port. The port of Kotor connected the sea and the hinterland, and thus many aspired to the area of ​​Kotor, as a strategically important position. Maritime affairs also shaped the way of life in the community. Thanks to the sailors who built numerous palaces, they contributed to Kotor being on the UNESCO list and becoming a protected area. Perast, which at one time was separated from Kotor, had city captains and maritime merchants contributed to the development of the place and its golden age in the 17th and 18th centuries, “said Djukic.