The artificial islet of Gospa od Škrpjela — Our Lady of the Rocks — rests on a foundation of 196 scuttled ships and centuries of stone ballast dropped by Perast sailors returning from the Levant. What began in 1452 as a single boulder marked by an icon of the Virgin has grown into a 3,030-square-metre platform crowned by a baroque church, its bell tower rising 11 metres above the bay. The tradition of throwing rocks into the shallows continues every July 22nd, when locals row out in ceremonial procession to add fresh stones, a ritual unbroken since the Republic of Venice held dominion over these waters. Kotor speedboat tour to blue cave and our lady of the rocks itineraries weave through the Bay of Kotor's inner fjord, where limestone cliffs plunge 1,200 metres and Venetian-era settlements cling to the shore. The Blue Cave — Plava Špilja — cuts 30 metres into the Luštica Peninsula, its mouth flooded by Adriatic light that refracts through submerged rock, turning the water electric cobalt between 11:00 and 14:00 when the sun angle peaks. Nearby submarine tunnels, carved by the Yugoslav Navy in the 1960s to shelter patrol boats, now sit abandoned, their vaulted ceilings dripping with seawater and draped in shadow. The church interior holds 68 votive paintings — ex-votos commissioned by mariners who survived storms, piracy, and plague — alongside 2,500 silver plaques hammered by hands spanning four centuries. The iconostasis, completed in 1796, frames a Madonna attributed to Lovro Dobričević, her robes darkened by candle smoke and salt air. Beneath the altar lies a single stone from the original reef, preserved under glass. The museum occupies two side chapels, displaying navigational instruments, Ottoman-era firearms, and a wedding dress embroidered over 25 years by Jacinta Kunić-Mijović, who lost her sight to needlework before its completion in 1878. Bay of Kotor speedboat excursions typically launch from Kotor's old harbour or Perast's quay, covering 12 to 18 nautical miles depending on route. Most operators include swim stops at the Blue Cave entrance and circumnavigate both islets — Gospa od Škrpjela and its twin, Sveti Đorđe, a natural island occupied by a Benedictine abbey closed to visitors since 1634. The bay's mirror-calm waters and surrounding karst amphitheatre create acoustic clarity; church bells from Perast carry across the sound for two kilometres on windless mornings.