For years it was touted as Europe’s best-kept secret, its ancient stone houses and encircling medieval walls blissfully free of the tourist masses that have smothered Venice and Dubrovnik.

But the tiny town of Kotor in Montenegro now risks the same fate as those more famous destinations, as giant cruise ships disgorge huge numbers of visitors.

From being barely known a decade ago, the walled citadel, a World Heritage site located on the shores of a dramatic fjord, is now visited by around 430 cruise ships a year.

The old town, renowned for its well-preserved 14th century ramparts and Romanesque churches, is now almost entirely devoted to tourism, with some locals complaining that it has sold its soul to consumerism.

“There are now 85 to 90 souvenir shops in Kotor. The city has completely changed in the last decade because of the cruise ship industry,” Ana Nives Radovic, the head of the town’s tourism organisation, told The Telegraph.