Welcome to Ulqini/Ulcinj

9/11 Loose Change

From Galeb Hotel a promenade leads through a thick pine wood to the lovely, Albatros Hotel, class A. This walk, to the soothing sounds of waves the nearby sulfurous springs and a aromatic plant life, is always a pleasant experience
                Port Milena

Milena Canal (Port Milena) was dug in 1885 according to the designs of the engineer of the court of Montenegro, the Russian Vladimir Ivanovic-Varman, to allow water to flow out of the lake of Liqeni Zogajve into the sea. Prince Nikola of Montenegro ordered this to be done after his first visit to Ulqin, when he learnt from prominent men there that their children were dying of malaria. The canal zig-zags and is 4.5 km long. However, after the canal had been dug, seawater flowed into the lake instead of the lake water flowing out to sea, because the lake’s surface was lower. The effect of this was even greater than had been planned, because the lake water became so salty that it prevented mosquitoes from breeding there. Less children died of malaria, and out of gratitude the local population named the canal after Princess Milena. A year later, in 1896, the river Drim (Drin) changed its course and one of its forks flowed into the river Buna just below Lake Shkoder.
The Buna flooded the field of Ulqin, widened the canal almost to its present dimensions and one of its forks flowed into the sea at Gjerana Point. After the waters of the Buna and the Drim receded, the canal remained as the drainage of Balta e Zogajve. Depending on the amount of inflow and the height of the tide, water flows up or down the Canal. When the water in Liqeni i Zogajve cools under the influence of winter winds, the gray mullet, sea bass, lamprey and other fish are caught along the Canal that is lined with fishing devices, kalimere. In Greek the name of these implements means >good day, good luck>, and in Albanian >to take in passing>, ( meaning the fish - në kalim merre). This method of fishing is also used on the river of Buna