Today I sold my Gornja Lastva ruin.

I have been concerned for a while that the property had been sitting there untouched since I purchased it in 2018, while the rapidly growing vegetation in Montenegro continued to engulf it, damaging the stonework.

The main reason, however, is that I feel Gornja Lastva, along with much of the nearby town of Tivat, is moving in a direction far removed from the reasons I originally purchased the property.

In Gornja Lastva, a neighbour has started building what appears to be a small apartment block, which you can see in the photo above, right next to my ruin, where there used to be beautiful trees. This suggests that almost any type of development will now be permitted, and that the area is not as protected as I had previously been led to believe. It will probably end up being very different from the authentically beautiful old village it was when I first bought the property.

The Porto Montenegro area of Tivat, which I used to really like, has also expanded significantly, with further development to come. Over the last two years, it has changed dramatically, becoming increasingly ostentatious, something I came to Montenegro to avoid.