☰ Austrian Fort Bijeli Pesak near Lepetane ∷ MonteGuide

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Fort Bijeli Pesak is one of the two fortresses located on the Vrmac peninsula, 110 metres above the Verige Strait. It was built by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the second half of the 19th century.

Paired with Fort Verige, Bijeli Pesak was to control the Verige Strait and the entrance to the Bay of Kotor.

Coordinates:

42.4727578587966

18.690321073014726

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Fort Bijeli Pesak. Description and history

All that is known from history is that at the end of the 19th century the Austrians built two similar forts to monitor the Verige Strait. The two forts were connected by a road and, from each of them, there was another route to the coast.

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The fort was not involved in any battles, at least not during the First World War. It is known that there were military warehouses at the foot of the mountain, which were blown up in 1942 along with the Italians who took them over. There is now a retaining wall and a memorial plaque on the site.

The fort itself consists of a tower with a caponier, barracks and warehouses. It was armed with a machine gun. The lower floor is occupied by a water cistern. Although similar to Fort Verige, there are some differences. The premises are smaller, which suggests that the garrison was smaller than at Fort Verige.

The building was well camouflaged from prying eyes, but was now still overgrown with bushes and almost impossible to spot from the outside. The fort also included a watchtower, which, unlike Bijeli Pesak itself, was perfectly visible both from below and from the opposite shore.

How to get

Nowadays, there is no trail from the coast. From the fort, the remains of an Austrian stone road descend towards the coast, but over time they are lost in the thorny undergrowth. There is speculation that the descent was destroyed along with the armoury on the coast or later, during the construction of the asphalt road.

However, three other trails have survived.

The first of these runs from Fort Verige. The trail follows the old Austrian road that once connected the two forts. Read here how to get to Fort Verige.

Important! If you use maps on maps.me, the trail breaks off somewhere in the middle of the path, but in reality it goes further and is clearly visible. So you won't get lost.

The second trail runs below the Austrian road and essentially connects the remains of the Austro-Hungarian climbs from the coast.

Important! The serpentine route down from Bijeli Pesak is overgrown with thorny bushes, making the ascent/descent extremely difficult. Of the three trails, this is the most uncomfortable.

Descend from above from Gornji Stoliv or Gornje Lepetane.