Fort Gorazda

Fort Gorazda
Tvrđava Goražda / Thurmfort Gorazda
near Kotor, Montenegro
Aerial view of the fort
Fort Gorazda
Coordinates	42°23′45″N 18°45′51″E / 42.395888°N 18.764136°E / 42.395888; 18.764136
Type	Fortification
Site information
Controlled by	Montenegro
Condition	Abandoned
Site history
Built	1860s? (first fort), 1884–6 (current structure)
Built by	Austro-Hungarian Empire
In use	1860s–1918 (Austro-Hungarian Empire) 1918–1990s (Yugoslavia)
Materials	Concrete, limestone
Battles/wars	First World War
Garrison information
Garrison	8 officers & 195 men (wartime numbers)

Fort Gorazda (Montenegrin: Tvrđava Goražda/Тврђава Гораждa, German: Thurmfort Gorazda) is a fortification built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire near Kotor in Montenegro. The current fort was built between 1884–86 and replaced an earlier structure on the same site; its most notable feature is a 100-ton Gruson rotating turret on its roof, the last remaining example of its type. The fort was used by the Austrians in artillery duels against Montenegrin batteries stationed on Mount Lovćen during the First World War. The Montenegrins were unable to destroy it and were pushed out of range in 1916 by an Austrian offensive. The damage to the fort was repaired and its guns were removed to support the Austrian field army. It was used as a depot by the Yugoslav Army until as recently as the early 1990s. It was subsequently abandoned and can be visited by the public.

The southernmost tip of the Austro-Hungarian Empire included the area of the Bay of Kotor, which was used by the empire as a major naval base centred on the town of Kotor (known then as Cattaro). The hinterland behind the bay was controlled by the independent principality (later kingdom) of Montenegro, which controlled the mountains to the east of Kotor.

The Austro-Hungarians faced significant problems in holding on to the territory, as the Montenegrins and their Russian allies aspired to take control of the Bay and Austrian rule was not universally accepted by the area's inhabitants. Two serious rebellions were mounted by the powerful Krivošije clan who lived on the eastern flanks of Mount Orjen above Risan. In 1869 the clan defeated an Austro-Hungarian force sent to quell their rebellion and nearly took the fortress at Goražde. The Austrians responded to the uprising by building a series of fortifications around the Bay of Kotor and at strategic points further inland, and strengthening or rebuilding existing fortresses, including the one at Goražde.

The fort stands on the hill of Goražde (known in Austro-Hungarian times as Gorazda) at an altitude of 452 m (1,483 ft), around 10 km (6.2 mi) from Kotor. It overlooks the Austrian-built road from Kotor to the former Montenegrin capital Cetinje and comprises a heavily reinforced stone and concrete structure situated within a ditch, with caponiers at the corners for close range defence. Its symmetrical layout, with two wings joined by a circular structure, is unusual for this type of mountain fortress. The fort dominates the heights above Kotor and guards one flank of the pass leading to the town, with the Škaljari Battery and Fort Vrmac a few kilometers away on the other side of the pass. From 1909, it was also supported by Fort Trašte located on the hills above the plain of Tivaksko polje.