Ulcinj

Ulcinj (Улцињ, ǔlt͡siɲ; Ulqin or Ulqini; Dulcigno) is a town on the southern coast of Montenegro and the capital of Ulcinj Municipality. It has an urban population of 10,707 (2011), the majority being Albanians. As one of the oldest settlements in the Adriatic coast, it was founded in 5th century BC. It was captured by the Romans in 163 BC from the Illyrians. With the division of the Roman Empire, it was a part of the Byzantine Empire and Serbian Kingdom in the Middle Ages until the Republic of Venice captured it in 1405. It was known as a base for piracy. In 1571, Ulcinj was conquered by the Ottoman Empire with the aid of North African corsairs after the Battle of Lepanto. The town gradually became a Muslim-majority settlement. Under the Ottomans, numerous oriental-style hammams, mosques, and clock towers were built. Ulcinj remained a den of piracy until this was finally put to an end by Mehmed Pasha Bushati. In 1673, the self-proclaimed Jewish Messiah Sabbatai Zevi was exiled here from Istanbul. Ulcinj remained an Ottoman town for more than 300 years until it was ceded to the Principality of Montenegro in 1878. It is a former medieval Catholic bishopric and remains a Latin titular see. Ulcinj is a destination for tourists, because of its Long Beach, Lake Šas, Ada Bojana Island and for its two-millennia-old Ulcinj Castle. There are 26 mosques in the town and surrounding countryside. Ulcinj is the centre of the Albanian community in Montenegro. Early historian Livy (59 BC–AD 17) mentioned it, as did Pliny the Elder (23–79), who mentioned it as Olcinium, its old name Colchinium, "founded by [settlers from] Colchis" (Olchinium quod antea Colchinium dictum est a Colchis conditum). Ptolemy (90–168) mentions the city as Greek Oulkinion (Ουλκίνιον). Although the ancient writers preferred a connection with Cholchis, the name of the settlement appears to be connected with the Albanian word ujk or ulk (meaning wolf in English), from Proto-Albanian *(w)ulka, from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kwos. In modern Albanian, it is known as Ulqin.