Crkvice
Crkvice , a village in the municipality of Kotor in Montenegro , was the strongest fort in Orjen and is known as the wettest place in Europe . Crkvice is located on the Krivošije plateau in eastern Orjen at an altitude of about 1000 m .
During the Austrian rule in 1869 there was a significant uprising by the mountain people. In order to secure the Bay of Kotor as a naval port , numerous fortifications were built, the most important of which was at Crkvice. The military border between the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary was north of Crkvice until 1878. An Ottoman division was stationed in the Polje von Grahovo .
A meteorological station from 1888 proves that this is Europe's rainiest area. Records are recorded with over 8000 mm of precipitation per year. The average values are given as 4926 mm, with snow on an average of 70 days. As the following table shows, there are significant differences between the Adriatic coast (Risan) and the nearby mountain peaks (Zubacki kabao) within a few kilometers, both in terms of climate type and rainfall.
Average monthly temperatures and precipitation for Crkvice at an altitude of 940 m
Source: «Crkvice Climate (1960-1991)», website of the Montenegro Hydrometeorological Institute
|
station | Height [m] | Climate type (according to Köppen ) | character | Vegetation type | Precipitation [mm / a] | Snow cover duration |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Zubački kabao | 1894 | Dfsc | perhumid Mediterranean snowy climate | endemic oro-Mediterranean lawn community with Sesleria robusta and Iris orjenii | approx. 6250 | approx. 140 days |
Crkvice | 940 | Cfsb | (fs = without summer drought), perhumid Mediterranean mountain climate | hygro- and thermophilic fir-beech forest with relict karst block heaps fir forests | 4926 | 70 days |
Risan | 0 | Cs''a | (s '' = double winter precipitation period), perhumid Mediterranean coastal climate | Exclave of the relictic laurel forest in the Mediterranean with Nerium oleander and Laurus nobilis | 3500 | 2 days |
* Ecological-meteorological table of the wettest place in Europe with parameters of the climate on a 15 km long transect between the mountain foot on the Mediterranean Sea and the highest mountain peak in Orjen.
Coordinates: 42 ° 34 ' N , 18 ° 38' E