Bijela is a coastal town located along the west coast of the Bay of Kotor, 12 km from Herceg Novi and 33 km from Kotor, Montenegro. In the past, Bijela was a village of fishermen, winegrowers, olive growers and sailors, and it is most recognizable for its shipbuilding tradition. The first and only shipyard on the Southern Adriatic to this day was founded by Đuro Todorović from Bijelje in 1927. Captain Petar Želalić (1717-1811), a Maltese knight, famous for the fact that, as a captive, he seized the largest warship in the Mediterranean at the time, the Turkish "Great Sultania", and escaped to Malta with it came from Bijelje's Đuro Todorović.

Although many of the captain's palaces were destroyed in the earthquake of 1979, some and also preserved Mediterranean parks can still be seen along the coast, the most famous of which is Đurković Park. In that park, apart from exotic Japanese persimmons, rare feyoa (Feyoa selowiana) trees, originally from South America, thrive. Access to the park is free, which means that you can savor the taste of rare feijoa without restrictions, if you happen to be here in mid-October when it ripens.

Bijelj's beaches are small, sandy, and there are many of them. A few centimeters below the sand, you can still find delicious vongole and wagana shells today. The sandy beaches are interrupted in places by short concrete, sometimes old stone piers - resting places for boats. Anyone who wants to calmly watch what playful children are doing in the shallows from a cafe in the shade of pine trees can do that. In the summer period, a few hundred meters from the observers, a dominant ship, a tourist cruiser with 13 or more decks, will pass towards Kotor (Montenegro). Must be white, just magnificent! He will be back the next day. Whoever did not manage to take a photo with the cruise ship in the background, will succeed when that Floating Mountain moves towards Herceg Novi (Montenegro) and beyond, towards the exit from the Gulf.

From Bijela, you can walk to interesting points uphill. To picturesque rural ambient units: Vale, Balabušić, Zlokovića, Zadvorina, Kalimož. It's not about hiking, it's about walking, but still of the kind that is not for younger children. True, the parish church of Rize St. Bogorodice can still be reached by car. The impressive church located in the Arcadian peace of the hamlet of Vala was built in 1824, on the site of the old church, of which the old semicircular apse with frescoes from the 12th century has been preserved to this day. of inestimable value. In the church, under exceptional security, there is a collection of the oldest printed texts in Montenegro (from the first Balkan printing house, ruling family Crnojević, Cetinje, 1494). In Bijela, one of only 4 printed copies of the "Octoi" is carefully preserved, followed by an old liturgical book and a valuable Holiday minuet. The church is surrounded by a forest. If you go deeper into it, then you can get under the chestnut trees Crva St. Vračeva was built in the gate of the church of Rize St. Mother of God. Church of St. Gospodje from the 14th century, it was built on the nearby Velje brdo. Church of St. Petra, from the 18th century, on Klin hill, visible from almost all of Bijela, was destroyed in the 1979 earthquake. It was rebuilt. From that position, a privileged view spreads over the entire place, all the way to the farthest shores of the Tivat Riviera.

Until the arrival of the Turks in 1483, Bijela was in the possession of Nemanjić, the Bosnian king Tvrtko, ruler Nikola Altomanić, Sandalj Hranić, Herceg Stefan. Since the time of the Republic of Venice (1420), the translated name - Bianca - has been in use. Legends say that there was once a walled city here. Archeology claims that there must have been a monastery on the Bijeljan site of Raka, in the period of unified Christianity, in the 9th or 10th century. In the provisions of the Kotor Statute from 1334, the name Saint Peter (Sancti Petri) is mentioned. That was the time when Bijela was under the administration of the ruling house of Nemanjić. In 1351 and 1355, the place was mentioned under the name of Saint Peter (Sancti Petri) in the Charter of Serbian Emperor Dušan. The government is of the opinion that Bijela was named after the Benedictine monastery of St. Peter in the era before the church schism. The monastery was demolished by the Mongols during an invasion in 1242. After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, Bijela was inhabited by only seven families. In 1696, Bijela had 20 families and 104 inhabitants. In 1704 – 22 families, etc. Founded in 1813, one of the first Serbian language schools in Montenegro operates in Bijela. The school and teachers are not financed by the authorities, but by seafarers, shipowners, but also ordinary people, olive growers and winegrowers. There used to be a fish processing factory in Bijela. Curious: the fish was not marinated and then preserved like today, but first fried! The taste, they say, was magnificent. On the site of the former Fish Factory, there is a hotel "Delfin". Before World War II, Bijela had: 4 pianos, 2 accordions, 6 cameras, 6 gramophones, 6 radios, 5 telephones, 160 men's and 60 women's hats, 16 fishing boats, 80 bicycles, 6 motorcycles, 2 cars... Behind the heavy autumn rains, the Pijavica stream flows through the middle of Bijela. The asphalt road that follows the stream upstream leads to the parish church. A five-minute walk away, at the end of the goat trail, is the source of Pijavica. Cool drinking water springs from the rock there, even in August. The palm of Pijavica water will be a reward for every summer guest who decided to visit Bijela up and down, from the salty sea to the sweet spring!