While on some beaches along the Montenegrin coast fine sand exists more as a beach curiosity (Kalardovo - Tivat; Plavi horizont and Oblatna - Radovići, see that), in Ulcinj fine sand is the rule! Velika plaža, 12.5 km long, is the largest on the Adriatic. If someone, photographed under a parasol made of palm leaves and with a milky white shallow sea in the background, would send an MMS to whom - then it would not be known whether the beach in the photo is in Montenegro, the Maldives or the Seychelles! To that extent, it is heavenly, soft like a carpet, because it is sprinkled with the tiniest sand even in the sea for tens of meters. How tiny? So much so that you could make hourglasses out of it...

If we symbolically overturn the hourglass, and if we go back in history, then we can see why the southernmost city on the Montenegrin coast has retained its oriental spirit. The urban and civilizational story here begins already in the 5th century. ex. n. e, when Colchinium was founded by the Greeks from Colchis. It was completely destroyed by the Roman conquest. Later renamed to Olcinium, it has existed since 163. ex. n. e. It will perish in a devastating earthquake in the 5th century. n. e, when it rises from the ashes, so that in the 6th century, in the place where the Old Town is located today, it would exist again.

In 1183, it was conquered by Stefan Nemanja. As in the case of other coastal medieval towns under Nemanjići, Ulcinj experiences prosperity: it becomes an important trade and maritime center. Especially salt is traded because there are natural conditions for it here. Not without reason, the wife of the Serbian king Uroš I (13th century) and the wife of Emperor Dušan (14th century) also lived in the city. Jelena, the Queen Mother (as they would say today), often came with her entourage, and even declared Ulcinj as her unofficial capital.

The fact that the grave of Đurđ Stratimirović Balšić, lord of Zeta and Primorje (14th century) is located here is evidence of Balšić's rule. After the fall of Zeta, the Venetians captured Ulcinj in 1422 and ruled it until 1580, when it was taken over by the Turks. It is often about renegade Turks, who partially or not at all recognize the supreme authority of the Porte. At that time, Ulcinj was a pirate's nest, whose armed ships and crews were ready to do anything for the sake of booty, and Venetian, Bokel and other sailing ships were afraid. Among other things, Ulcinj is also known as the slave square. Uluz or Utuj Alija, with about 500 Saracen, Tunisian and Algerian pirates, represents fear and trepidation for all sailing ships passing through this part of the Mediterranean. According to one story, even the famous Miguel de Cervantes shaved here as a slave! His Dulcinea from "Don Quixote" could be a lovely woman from Ulcinj, servantesologists speculate! However, in 1737, the Turkish sultan abolished pirate arbitrariness, unwilling to tolerate anarchy and renegadeness from the supreme authority. In 1878, Montenegrins will liberate Ulcinj.

Today's Old Town rises above the city's 360 m long, sandy Mali Beach, which is teeming with beehives in the summer. The fortification from which you can best see the seasonal bustle was built by the Venetians. There are two entrances: from the sea side and the land side. Inside the Old Town is the church of St. Mary from the 13th century, which was converted into a mosque in 1639. The native museum is located in the Church-Mosque - in the church according to the architecture, and the mosque according to the attached, visibly chipped minaret. The former bishop's palace from the 13th c. it serves as an Ethnographic Museum, and in the building of the Venetian Customs House (Administrative building of the museum) there is a beautiful model of the city of Ulcinj. In Balšića tower from the 15th century. there once lived the Jew Sabetha Zwi, a false prophet, for whom the end of the world did not happen in 1666, as he prophesied.

Outside the walls is the Orthodox Church of St. Nikola, built in 1890 on the site of a medieval monastery. There is also the Pasha Mosque completed in 1719, with Turkish baths, the Namzgah Mosque from 1828 and the Clock Tower built in the 18th century. On the other side of the Little beach, there are several even smaller ones, including the famous Ženska voda swimming pool, with a healing spring that, according to tradition, is beneficial for women without childbirth.

The most popular Ulcinj picnic spot is certainly Svač, actually the remains of a medieval town first mentioned in 1967, in the legend that Svač had as many churches as there are days in the year. The town was destroyed in 1610, but the foundations of 8 churches can still be seen on the remains. In the immediate vicinity is the church of St. John, probably from 1300, when the Franciscan church of St. Mary, built at the beginning of the 14th century. In the places that gravitate to Ulcinj, there are mahal mosques, most of them built in the 18th and 19th centuries. Pasha's house in Podgrađe, with a carved ceiling, was built in 1718. Church of St. Nikole pod Bijela Gora was built in 1869.

Bilingual inscriptions in Ulcinj testify to the dominance of Albanian life here. Oriental architecture and urban discord seem to stop at the very border with Albania. Namely, there, at the mouth of the border river Bojana, on the island of Ada Bojana, there has been a nudist paradise for decades. The whole island is devoted to naturism. Sand dunes and pristine sandy beaches are occupied by nudist guests from all over the world. At night, they find entertainment either in the City, or in the restaurants-sojenice, so typical of the Ulcinj Riviera. And it is good to feast on fish or oriental specialties.