2448) "Ancient Cities of the Mediterranean - Risan, Montenegro: "EUROMED" theme for 2022: A Stamp of €0.95 (Euro) brought out by Pošta Crne Gore (Montenegro Post): Date of Stamp issue: 12.07.2022:
The Postal Union for the Mediterranean (PUMed), created in Rome on 15.03.2011, by 14 Postal Administrations from the Mediterranean Region under the aegis of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), now has 23 members.
Over time, other postal operators have joined: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Mauritania, Morocco, Syrian Arab Republic and Tunisia, from the Permanent Arab Commission; Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey, belonging to PostEurop.
The objective behind this concept was to develop a similar project of the lines of "EUROPA" Stamps, wherein a theme will be chosen and all member countries will submit their design. As such, the Euromed Postal stamp project is a joint commitment, consisting of the annual issue of a stamp on the same theme.
Each member will then be free to issue the design prepared by it. This for the exception of the first stamp issued in 2014, where all members were obliged to have the same design.
The themes chosen for the member countries, since 2014, so far, are as follows:
2014 - “The Mediterranean”
2015 - “Boats used in the Mediterranean”
2016 - “Fish in the Mediterranean”
2017 - “Trees in the Mediterranean”
2018 - “Houses in the Mediterranean”
2019 - “Costumes used in the Mediterranean”
2020 - "Traditional Gastronomy in the Mediterranean"
2021 - "Handicraft Jewelry in the Mediterranean"
2022 - "Ancient Cities of the Mediterranean"
A Stamp brought out by Pošta Crne Gore (Montenegro Post) on the "EUROMED Project theme" for 2022, "Ancient Cities of the Mediterranean" featuring the ancient town of Risan:
A brief:
Antique Risan (or Rhizon):
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It traces its origins to the ancient settlement of Rhizon, the oldest settlement in the Bay of Kotor.
Lying in the innermost portion of the bay, the settlement was protected from the interior by inaccessible limestone cliffs of the Orjen mountain, the highest range of eastern Adriatic, and through several following narrow straits in the Bay of Kotor from the open sea.
The earliest mention of Rhizon dates back to the 4th Century BCE, as the main fortress in the Illyrian state where Queen Teuta took refuge during the Illyrian Wars. The degree of Hellenization at Rhizon was very high.
Ancient Risan was the capital of the Illyrian tribe of the Ardiaei, who formed a powerful state and conquered the surrounding Illyrian tribes by controlling trade routes both at sea and on land.
The most famous ruler of Risan was the Illyrian Queen Teuta.
Archaeological objects testify to the importance of the city in the ancient period, one of the most significant being the money of King Ballaios, the Illyrian king, who continued to rule after the defeat of King Gentius by the Roman Empire.
In Roman times, Rhizinium is documented as an "oppidum civium Romanorum" ("Settlement of Roman citizens"), and the most prosperous time for Roman Rhizinium came during the 1st and 2nd Centuries, when huge villas were made in the area and the city had 10,000 inhabitants.
Five mosaics are the most valuable remains of that period - not only for Risan but also for Montenegro.
Around 500 AD it became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Risano. The invasions of the Avars and Slavs left the city deserted. The last reference of a Roman bishop in Risan dates back to 595 AD.
In the 10th Century, the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus included Risan among the inhabited towns of Travunia, while the priest of Doclea considered Rissena to be a district.
During the Middle Ages, Risan lost the significance it used to have in the ancient times.
No later than the 13th century, the Italians provided the bulk of a henceforward unbroken series of Latin Catholic Bishops of Risano until its suppression in 1630.
In the mid-15th century, Risan was referred to as a town of "Herceg Stjepan".
In 1466, the Venetians offered to give Brač island and a palace in Split to Herceg Stjepan, in exchange for the two towns (Risan and Novi) in the Boka Kotorska.
In 1482, the Turks took Risan, together with Herceg Novi, from Herceg Stjepan's son Vlatko, using it as a base for its corsairs to pirate Venetian shipping sailing from their nearby holdings of Cattaro and Perasto.
Only in 1688 Risan became Venetian as part of the Albania Veneta with the Venetian name of Risano, enjoying a temporary economic growth.
In the following centuries Risan has had the same fate as the whole of Dalmatia.
It was for a few years during World War II part of the Kingdom of Italy in the Italian Governatorate of Dalmatia and later it became a part of the newly independent Montenegro.
Present Day Risan:
In the present-day Risan, there are no elements that could connect it to the medieval town. Risan by the sea was simply just a settlement.
However, on the Gradina hill, above the famous archeological site of Carine, a fortification is situated containing remains of an Illyrian acropolis, as well as, the medieval and Turkish stratum.
The position of the fortification was excellent, particularly for the control of Risan – Onogošt route, while the hilltop itself was inaccessible.
Today Risan is a small port with roughly 2000 inhabitants, where logs from the vast virgin forests of the Bijela gora are shipped mostly to Italy.
The Stamp issue:
"EUROMED" Stamp issues - 2021 - "Handicraft Jewellery in the Mediterranean":
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