Zmajević-Burović-Zloković Palace

Although the palace does not exist any more, we believe that is deserves to be mentioned. On the palace’s grounds stand a church of St. Peter, the only preserved building of the complex. In the middle ages, the site of the church was occupied by a Benedictine monastery, which was destroyed by the Mongols in 1242.

Initially, Zmajević-Burović-Zloković Palace had been built as a summerhouse for the Zmajević family from Perast. Later it belonged to the Burović’s, i.e. Burović -Zmajević family. The palace was built in the first half of the 18th century. It was owned by the son of Count Stanislav Burović (whose father was Ivan Burović from Perast) and Marija Zmajević, the daughter of Admiral Matija Zmajević.

In 1729, Pietro Vendramin, the Grand Duke of Venice, gave a piece of land in Bijela with the church of St. Peter on it, to Ivanu Burović as a reward for his bravery during the liberation of the northwest part of Boka Kotorska from Turkish rule.

In the mid-19th century, the palace was bought by the brothers Bogdan and Jovo Zloković, who were sea captains and ship-owners. The palace passed to Bogdan’s son Milivoj Zloković. In 1928, Milivoj’s wife Ana bequeathed the palace to charity as the “Foundation of Milo Zloković and his wife Ana, neé Mihanović”.

The palace was a three-storey building, with a belvedere. The first floor, resting on a bricked vault, had the layout typical of all larger houses and palaces of Boka Kotorska of that time, which consisted of a central salon and four rooms, two of them facing the sea and the other two facing the hill. The ceilings of the salon and rooms were supported by wooden beams. The salon and other rooms on the first floor were accessed through a terrace which was reached by a spacious impressive staircase with Baroque balustrade. The belvedere carried the coat-of-arms of the Burović-Zmajević family.

The Saxon king, Friedrich August, stayed in the palace on one occasion in 1838 while he was on his way to Cetinje to visit Petar II Petrović Njegoš. On two occasions, the Montenegrin prince Nikola I Petrović and his family spent their summer vocations in Bijela and stayed in the palace.

Following the destruction of the palace caused by the Austrian army during World War I, the palace was rented out to the Association of Reserve and Retired Officers from Belgrade which undertook its reconstruction. During the reconstruction the palace lost all of those characteristics that had made it one of the most beautiful palaces in Boka Kotorska.

After World War II, a primary school was housed in the palace. After the earthquake of 1979 which caused considerable damage to the palace, the palace was completely pulled down and a new primary school was built at its site.