Budva
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Image:Montenegro municipalities.png Budva (Будва) is a coastal town of the Republic of Montenegro in Serbia and Montenegro, located at Template:Coor dms. It has around 10,000 inhabitants, and is a center of Budva municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called Budvanska rivijera, is the center of Montenegro's tourism, and is well known for its sandy beaches, diverse nightlife, and beautiful examples of Mediterranean architecture.
Budva is 2,500 years old, that makes it one of the oldest settlements on the coast of the Adriatic sea.
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History
There is vast archeological evidence that places Budva among the oldest urban settlements of the Adriatic coast, while numerous written testimonies provide historical facts dating back to the 5th century BC A legend tells that Budva was founded by Cadmus the Phoeninician, a hero exiled out of Thebes, finding a shelter in this place for himself and his wife Harmonia.
Other two civilizations left innumerable traces too: the Greek and the Roman. Upon the fall of the Roman empire and its division into east and west, the defensive barrier which separated the two powers happened to run across this area, subsequently making a lasting impact on the history and cultureof this town. In the Middle Ages, Budva was reigned by a succession of Doclean kings, Serbian and Zetan aristocrats, and the Venetians 9who ruled this town over 300 years. In the much turbulent years to come, Budva saw a changeof several of its supreme rulers – Austria, France and Russia. A union of Boka Kotorska (and Budva) with Montenegro took place for a brief period (1813 – 1814), but from 1814 until 1918 Budva remained under Austrian Empire. After its decline in 1918, Budva came under Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
World War II claimed many lives from the people of this area in the fights against fascist conquerors. Budva vas finally liberated on November 22 1944.
Catasrophic earthquake struck Budva April 15 1979. Much of old town was devastated, but today there is little evidence of the catastrophy – almost all the buildings were restored in the original way.
Population
Budva is administrative center of Budva municipality, which includes neighbouring towns of Bečići and Petrovac, and has a population of 15,909 (2003. census). Town itself has 10,918.
Ethnically, Budva is mostly composed of Montenegrins (45,33%) and Serbs (40,9%). The rest are ethnic minorities, including Muslims and Croats.
Population of Budva:
Old Town
The Old Town in Budva holds many tales and different stories of its origin. Scholars and Historians believe it to be originally an island, and had joined the shore to form a sand isthmus. The Old Town, along with the city of Budva was said to have been discovered by a Greek sailor by the name of Boutoua. Eventually, the Roman Empire took over the whole Montenegrin coast influencing it greatly.
Much of the architecture in the Old Town is of Venetian origin. Doors, hinges, windows, balconies and many other small but noticeable things seem to hold Roman style. There are also three main churches in the old town. The first is St.Ivan which was built in the 7th century AD, second St. Mary's of Punta dating from 840 AD and the third, The Holy Trinity, which was built in 1804.
The Old Town is also famous for the earthquakes in suffered in 1979, where the whole town had to be rebuilt, and it took 8 years, till 1987 for it to be completely finished.
Tourism
Budva is a capital of Montenegrin tourism. With over 250,000 guests in 2005 summer season, which made over 1,600,000 overnight stays, it is by far most popular tourist destination in Montenegro.
Either because of 11,310 m of sandy beaches in and around Budva, or for its vast cultural heritage and beautiful architecture, Budva is attracting more and more foreign tourists every year. Coupled with vibrant nightlife, it makes Budva attractive destination for everyone.
Budva's most famous beach is Mogren, which is around soem large cliffs, and a safe pathway, which is about 500 meters leads to the beach. Other beaches in Budva include Beach, Ricardova, Slovenian, Pizana, Guvance and etc. Many other beaches are located around Budva, in smaller surrounding cities, such as Becici, Jaz, Maestral, Milocer, Sveti Stefan, Przno and Kamenovo.
Many would say that Budva is "colourful" because of the majority of buildings that have a distint variety of colours. Since Budva is a city that is more focused toward new age architecture, much like Miami, the city outside its old town, does not hold many historical sights.
In the near vicinity of the town of Budva there are exclusive resorts such as town-hotel Sveti Stefan and Miločer, places loved by the celebrities and politicians.
Transport
Image:Harbour Budva.JPGBudva is connected to inland Montenegro by two-laned motorways. There are two ways to reach Budva from Podgorica - either through Cetinje, or through newly built Sozina tunnel. Either way, Podgorica is around 60 km away, and is main road junction in Montenegro.
Budva is connested to the rest of coastal towns of Montenegro by Adriatic motorway, which extends from Ulcinj on the far south to the Herceg-Novi, and on to the Croatia.
Tivat airport is 20 km away. There are regular flights to Belgrade and Zurich, and dozens of charter planes land daily on Tivat airport during the summer season.
Podgorica airport is 65 km away, and it has regular flights to major European destinations throughout the year.
Climate
Budva has typical Mediterranean climate, with warm summers and mild winters, and 97 sunny days in a year. Budva comes among the warmest Mediterranean towns with an average temperature of 8°C in January and 23,9°C in July. The average summertime temperature is 23,1°C and 9,3°C in the winter. The temperature of the sea reaches up to 24,7°C in the summer months, while it keeps between 18°C and 19°C in the autumn