Besac, the fortress keeping watch over Virpazar

From the quay at Virpazar you can see a wall among the cypresses at the top of the hill. That’s Besac, and although it doesn’t take long to walk round, I wouldn’t leave the village without going up. What it gives you is the view, the lake spread out behind Virpazar, and a pleasant spot to sit at the end of the day.

One of the oldest fortresses in the country

Bar’s tourist board dates it to the 15th century and counts it among the oldest military fortifications still standing in what is now Montenegro. Its position gives it command of the broad Crmnica plain, and the national tourism office presents it as a former Turkish fortress.

It wasn’t a lone outpost. National Parks of Montenegro explains that the lake’s towers and fortresses, built between the 14th and 19th centuries on rocky high points, formed a linked defensive system during the wars between Montenegrins and Turks. Besac watched the Crmnica shore, while Lesendro and Grmožur held the water. From the top the logic is obvious, since you can take in the plain, the village and the way in from the lake at a glance.

What’s up there now

What I like is that Besac hasn’t been left as a ruin, unlike so many inland fortresses you can only look at from outside. The National Tourism Organisation talks about a fortress brought back to life, with a walkway inside the walls, a landscaped panoramic terrace, a wine museum, restaurants and a shop selling produce from the area. It suits the place, because Crmnica is Vranac country and here you can drink it with the lake in front of you.

The same source dwells on the view over the fishing village and the lake. Bar’s tourist board puts it more simply, saying Virpazar looks like something from a fairy tale and seeing it from Besac is something else again.

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Getting up there

Bar’s tourist board says the way up is a narrow, out-of-the-way spur off the Virpazar to Bar road over the Sutorman pass. The official websites give no opening hours or admission price for either the fortress or its museum, so I’d check at the national park visitor centre in Virpazar before heading up.

What to pair it with

The whole Besac hill belongs to the Virpazar historic ensemble, so it fits into the same visit as the village, its bridges and a boat out on Lake Skadar. If fortresses are your thing, the other one worth the trip around here is Žabljak Crnojevića in the north of the lake, and my guide to Montenegro’s fortresses takes you from Kotor down to Stari Bar.

My order would be a boat in the morning, lunch in Virpazar, the village of Godinje in the afternoon and Besac for sunset.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Besac fortress and pick one that fits your day.

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