Cats Museum – Cattaro
The opportunity of setting up a Cats Museum came about after the Countess of Montereale Mantica donated a vast collection of period images.
This material has become part of the collections of the “Badoer” International Feline Adoption Center in Venice and has become very interesting and substantial and has increased over the last 10 years thanks to further donations and targeted purchases.
The importance of the material and the high number of works gave birth to the idea of setting up a museum where the works can be seen not only by visitors but also by a wider public who will want to get to know us through the internet or through travelling exhibitions.
The Museum, however, does not only deal with cats, but, through the interest that this animal universally arouses in people, aims to make people feel and show greater respect for nature, animals and the environment continuously threatened by man .
In fact, who loves cats, how can he not love other animals and nature itself?
Transmitting the love for animals is possible to everyone through a wider knowledge and knowledge is the first step and certainly respect.
We chose Kotor for its geographical position and tranquillity as well as because it is fairly populated by cats.
When we set up in 2013, the Dalmatian town was not yet a tourist destination and at the time there were only 2 souvenir shops against the more than 100 that exist today.
The Cats Museum was considered at its inception as a bizarre idea but in short we managed to make the cat the symbol of the city even though it had nothing to do with cats these became the subject on which every tourist gadget is mainly based .
Imaginative legends arose about the cats that saved Kotor from the plague and that fed the citizens during the sieges of the Turks but they are all fantasies that have no basis in truth.
To confirm what has been said you can ask anyone who visited Kotor before 2013 what the situation was.
However, the Cats Museum has succeeded in its main aim, namely that of conveying to the visitor a greater interest in cats, hoping for greater respect and protection for them everywhere.
Our office is in the premises that once occupied the ancient refectory of the Poor Clares monastery of Our Lady of the Angels.
The Museum has a purely seasonal character and is functional and is normally active from May 1st to October 31st.