Armored fortress Goražda
Position
Lovćen eastern defense zone
Defensive line:
Vrmac - Trojica - Goražda
Tactical mission task
Defense and control of the road Kotor – Cetinje
With battery Kavač, protection of the port of Tivat
Attack on an artillery battery at the position on Krstac
Construction period
1884 -1886.
Crew
8 officers, 195 non-commissioned officers and soldiers
Weapons
Hermann Gruson armored dome
Howitzers M-80 MinSchKan 60-120 mm, 7 pcs
Cannon Kas Kan M4 20-90 mm, 4 pcs
Machine gun MG M4 3-8 mm
Machine gun MG M7 2-8 mm
Infantry weapons
Lovćen eastern defense zone
Defensive line:
Vrmac - Trojica - Goražda
Tactical mission task
Defense and control of the road Kotor – Cetinje
With battery Kavač, protection of the port of Tivat
Attack on an artillery battery at the position on Krstac
Construction period
1884 -1886.
Crew
8 officers, 195 non-commissioned officers and soldiers
Weapons
Hermann Gruson armored dome
Howitzers M-80 MinSchKan 60-120 mm, 7 pcs
Cannon Kas Kan M4 20-90 mm, 4 pcs
Machine gun MG M4 3-8 mm
Machine gun MG M7 2-8 mm
Infantry weapons
SYMBOL OF MODERN MILITARY ARCHITECTURE
Even today, the Goražda Fortress arouses admiration, due to the skill and precision of its builders and the engineering project of the monumental and functional whole, buried and camouflaged in the natural environment. From the entrance door, on both sides, there was the barracks (1), while the battle part of the fortress was facing Lovćen. As before the First World War, the army of the Kingdom of Montenegro received heavy artillery, which could target ships in the port of Boka, so the fortress of Goražda had to be modernized. The harmonious building was given a rotating dome at the top, to accommodate two howitzers, weighing about 100 tons (2), then two rotating domes (3) next to the machine gun nests (4), intended for observation. It got armor for cannons on the casemate batteries, and metal plates on the ceilings. With all these reinforcements, it was one of the most modern fortresses of that time.All these parts are still in the fortress today.
Dome interior¹
Mechanism for turning the domes
If you want to explore the fortress: under the dome, a part of the mechanism for its launch has been preserved, and the remains of an elevator for delivering ammunition from the warehouse to the cannons were in the corridors.
A SMALL DICTIONARY OF FORTIFICATION ARCHITECTURE
Trench (5) is a buried part around the fortress, surrounded by an inner wall, a escarpment (6) and an outer wall, contraescarp (7). Caponir (8) is a protruding element on the fortress, tied to the escarpment by a chase (corridor), which neutralizes the dead corners of the fortress (ie parts of poor visibility).
The significance of Goražda in the defense of the coast becomes crystal clear only when the view from the fortress covers the entire width and depth of the panorama of Boka.
View from the armored dome
FIND CASEMATES IN THE FORTRESS!
In artillery, the term battery is used for the organizational unit. It consists of 50 to 60 soldiers and 2 to 6 artillery weapons (cannons, machine guns, mortars, howitzers, torpedoes). Casemates (9) were built for larger batteries, for crew protection and for ammunition storage.
There were five casemate batteries in Goražde.
SHELLING OF GORAŽDA
During the war, the fortress was shelled several times. In October 1914, King Nikola attended the first shelling of the Boka fortress. At that time, the Montenegrin artillery pelted Goražde with 21 grenades, causing significant damage. Due to its importance, it was immediately repaired and put into full combat readiness.
Montenegrin artillery
BOKA BELT FORTRESS
"I take my hat off to the Austro-Hungarian officers and planners on the brilliant strategic and tactical set-up of the fortified defense system of the then Austro-Hungarian war port of Boka."
Radojica Raso Pavićević, Colonel
Author of the book Werk, an Austro-Hungarian fortress in Montenegro
Radojica Raso Pavićević, Colonel
Author of the book Werk, an Austro-Hungarian fortress in Montenegro
Map of the Boka belt fortress²
BOKA BELT FORTRESS
This area of Boka has been an interesting sphere of the mighty ones throughout its long history. Defense systems have been built here for centuries, adapted to space and time. Austria-Hungary went the furthest in that and built breathtaking fortification systems in the area of the Bay of Kotor and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The system of the Boka Belt Fortress was intended for the protection of the southern military port located in Boka and from which the protection of the Straits of Otranto and the southern border of the empire was planned. It was built in phases, during the 19th century, modernized and extended, in accordance with historical circumstances, imperial plans and modernization of weapons. Before the First World War, the territory of Boka was completely covered by fortifications, both from the sea and the mountainous part of the border with Montenegro.
Military ships in the war port of Boka before the First World War²
¹ Source: Radojica Pavićević
² Source: Volker Pachauer
³ Source: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv
4 Source: Österreichische Gesellschaft für Festungsforschung
Important Note: Explore the fortresses and use the trails at your own risk.
² Source: Volker Pachauer
³ Source: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv
4 Source: Österreichische Gesellschaft für Festungsforschung
Important Note: Explore the fortresses and use the trails at your own risk.
