Nature Monument Sopot and Nature Monument Dražin Vrt were officially designated as protected areas by decisions of the Government of Montenegro in 2024. Before receiving formal protection status, both sites had been under preventive protection since 2021.
These integrated coastal and marine protected areas safeguard ecologically important marine and coastal habitats and species. Both sites are classified as IUCN Category IV Protected Areas (Habitat/Species Management Areas) and are distinguished by their exceptional biodiversity, as well as their significant landscape, ecological, cultural and aesthetic values.

Nature Monuments Sopot and Dražin Vrt are home to the largest known coralligenous community of the gold coral (Savalia savaglia) in the Mediterranean Sea.
The gold coral, also known as the false black coral, is a rare species distributed throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean. This branching coral develops by growing over various species of gorgonians, gradually enclosing them within its almost black protein skeleton. Its numerous polyps are whitish to golden yellow, giving the species its common name.
In Boka Kotorska Bay, gold coral has developed in the immediate vicinity of submarine freshwater springs at unusually shallow depths of 10–25 m. Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, it is typically found at depths of 30–100 m, and occasionally as deep as 700 m. The submarine freshwater springs create unique environmental conditions—including lower salinity, cooler water, reduced water transparency and distinctive sedimentation patterns—that support the development of this remarkable coral. Gold coral grows extremely slowly, only a few millimetres each year. Colonies in the Boka Kotorska Bay can reach up to one metre in height, indicating that they are several centuries old.
Besides gold coral, these protected areas provide habitat for numerous other valuable marine species, including the brown algae Cystoseira corniculata and Gongolaria barbata, the sponges Axinella damicornis and Sarcotragus foetidus, the stony coral Cladocora caespitosa, and the sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa.
The terrestrial sections of both protected areas are characterised by valuable Mediterranean habitats, including Holm oak (Quercus ilex) forests, Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis) woodlands, and Mediterranean rocky coasts with endemic Limonium species.

Although visits to the protected areas themselves are relatively rare, many visitors explore the surroundings of the Cave Vrelo Sopot, one of the area’s best-known natural attractions.
The wider Sopot area around Risan contains numerous protected cultural heritage sites, including underwater and terrestrial archaeological sites, the historic urban core of Risan, historic palaces, churches and memorial monuments.
Near Dražin Vrt is located one of Montenegro’s most iconic landmarks—the Church of Our Lady of the Rocks, built in 1630 on the artificial islet of the same name. It is among the most visited cultural and historical attractions in Boka Kotorska Bay. At the entrance to the town of Perast stands the magnificent Bujović Palace, one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture on the Adriatic coast. Today, it is home to the Perast Town Museum.

The Sopot site is located approximately 1 km from Risan, between the settlements of Vitoglav (above Sopot Cove) and Strp.
The Dražin Vrt site is located along a narrow coastal strip below the Adriatic Highway, approximately 1 km from the village of Dražin Vrt and about 800 m from the historic town of Perast.

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