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Dubrovnik is a Croatian city and one of the tourist gems of the Adriatic with a great location and an exciting history, dating back to both the Roman Empire and the centuries as an independent republic with a large and thriving trade.
The old town behind the heavily fortified walls and towers is the heart of the city and the reason that so many tourists visit Dubrovnik. Narrow alleys, beautiful streets and fine squares with a wealth of architectural masterpieces are some of the things you find here. The prosperous past of the city as Ragusa does reflect the city scene along, for example, the main street Stradun.
The Rector’s Palace was the political center of the Republic of Ragusa, and the Ragusian city hall, bell tower, several churches and lavash residences were built in the sam neighborhood. They still stand as a beautiful composition of the rich and bygone era.
Dubrovnik’s location between the Adriatic Sea and the Dinaric Alps, which rises steeply immediately behind the city, is picturesque, and fortunately it’s easy to reach the heights. With Dubrovnik Cable Car, you can get to viewpoint with unforgettable panoramas to the city and the sea. From here you can see Dubrovnik’s many defense works around the maze of perpendicular streets behind the walls.
Dubrovnik’s suburbs are also worth a stroll; there are many beautiful views along the Adriatic coast on the way north towards the city’s port. The coastline is a fine view, and it is also the case to the north and south of Dubrovnik. The Montenegrin coastal towns and beautiful landscapes around the Bay of Kotor are of particular interest.
Stradun is the name of Dubrovnik’s main street, which over approximately 300 meters offers a fine experience of the old town and several of its buildings worth seeing. The street runs in an east-west direction and was originally a canal that separated the urban communities of Ragusa and Dubrava. The filling of the street was carried out in the 13th century, so the street has long been significant.
Both ends of the street are marked by a city gate, a bell tower and a fountain. To the east, the bell tower stands in the perspective of the street, while the western part is part of the Franciscan Monastery/Franjevački manastir building complex. The fountains are the so-called Onofrio fountains, which led drinking water from the mountains surrounding the city to these two central locations in the city.
It is also worth noting the side streets to Stradun. They have an identical width, which was legislated in the time of the Republic of Dubrovnik. The only exception was and is Bredgade/Široka ulica, which was laid out wider due to the presence of the city’s granary precisely here.
Great Onofrio Fountain is one of Dubrovnik’s two Onofrio fountains. The second and smaller one stands at the opposite end of the main street Stradun.
In the Republic of Dubrovnik, water supply was planned for the city’s inhabitants, and in the 14th century a number of public and private cisterns were established that could collect rainwater. During periods of drought, ships also sailed water to the city, which was sold to households.
In 1436, Dubrovnik’s city council decided to have an aqueduct built so that the water supply could become more stable. It was to run from nearby Šumet to Dubrovnik, and the primary architect was Onofrio della Cava. With a length of 11.7 kilometers and a drop of 106 meters, Šumet supplied water to the Great and Little Onofrio Springvand.
The Great Onofrio Fountain was built 1438-1440 as a sixteen-sided tank with a water-giving face on each side and a dragon figure on top of its dome. This figure has been lost since its construction.
Dubrovnik’s walls are a uniquely preserved structure that over the centuries has acted as protection for the city and city-state of Dubrovnik, Ragusa and the other names the place has had since its founding in the 6th century. The walls are considered to be some of the most effective fortress walls in Europe, as they were never taken during the Middle Ages.
The earliest walls are believed to have been low wooden walls which in those days provided the necessary protection. The current walls were built and continuously expanded in the 12th-17th centuries, with a particularly large expansion from the 14th-century independence from Venice to the time after the 15th-century Ottoman threat through the Turkish invasion of Constantinople.
Today, the walls stand intact around the city center for a length of 1,940 metres. The height reaches 25 meters in some places. In addition to the walls themselves, 3 circular and 14 square defense towers, 5 bastions and Sankt Johannes Fort/Tvrđava Sv. Ivan. A moat was also dug on the landward side of the walls, and 120 guns were placed along it. The walls on the landward side are 4-6 meters thick, and they run from Fort Revelin in the east to Fort Bokar in the west.
From central Dubrovnik, you can go on an great ride with the city’s cable car. It leads in four minutes up to the 405 meter high mountain Srđ, from where there is a very fine view over Dubrovnik’s characteristic red terracotta roofs and over the Adriatic Sea behind.
In addition to the unparalleled view, which in clear weather can stretch for 60 kilometers, the cable car ride is an experience in itself, where you get a good impression of the city’s infrastructure from above on the way to the mountain top. The course opened in 1969, and since then several million guests have enjoyed the beautiful ride.
As the city’s cathedral, Dubrovnik Cathedral is the primary church in the city. Built on the site of several other churches, it replaced a Romanesque building that had been destroyed in the 1667 earthquake.
The new cathedral was built in the years 1671-1713. After the earthquake, Dubrovnik’s senate had asked the architect Andrea Bufalini to come up with a design for the new church, and several Italian architects worked on the construction in the following decades. The cathedral’s architectural style is Roman Baroque, which created works by, for example, Bernini.
Inside the church you can see the baroque altar depicting the Assumption of Mary. The church room itself is also worth seeing, and the church also houses a number of relics; among others of the city’s patron Saint Blasius and a fragment of the True Cross from Jesus’ crucifixion.
Pila Gate was Dubrovnik’s primary city gate, leading through the city’s thick fortress walls. The gate’s defense consisted of both moats, drawbridge and Fort Bokar. Already in the 9th century, the first smaller castle was built here, and part of it was preserved with the construction of Pila Gate, whose outer Renaissance entrance dates from 1573. The inner gate is Gothic and was built around 1460.
Today the moat at the gate is dry, but otherwise the entrance to the city is the same as in the heyday of the walls. Above the entrance of the gate itself, you can see a statue of St. Blasius/Sveti Vlaho, who is the patron saint of Dubrovnik. The statue was made by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović.
The Minčeta Tower is one of the most solid and impressive of Dubrovnik’s fortress buildings. It was built in the northern corner of the city walls and is the highest part of the city’s defenses.
The first fort on this site was built in 1319 and it stood until the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. This event made Dubrovnik want to strengthen the Minčeta, and they summoned the architect Michelozzo di Bartolomeo from Florence. He built the round tower with six meter thick walls from 1461. However, Di Bartolomeo left the city in 1464 and Juraj Dalmatinac came to build most of the tower.
Today, Minčeta still towers high above Dubrovnik, and in addition to the exciting defenses, it is a fantastic experience to enjoy the view of the city and the sea from the top of the tower. The name Minčeta comes from the Menčetić family, who owned this place before the tower was built.
The elegant Church of the Annunciation is Dubrovnik’s Serbian Orthodox church building. The building itself was built in 1877, but you can see quite a few older icons from the 15th and 16th centuries in its interior. In addition to the church space itself, you can see a museum in the church, where religious works of art are stored.
The relatively late construction of the church is not least due to the fact that it was forbidden in the Republic of Dubrovnik to practice other faiths than the Catholic one, let alone stay as, for example, Orthodox within the city walls. The only exception was a single active synagogue. This policy weakened over time, and in 1790 an Orthodox congregation was established in the previously forbidden area in the city center.
In 1804, the first Orthodox church was built, which took place outside the walls, and in 1877 this was built through, among other things, lobbying from the Russian consul and the bishop of Montenegro.
Church of Saint Blaise is named after Dubrovnik’s patron saint and is located as a beautiful baroque church in the city center. Blaise was bishop of Sebaste, Armenia, and lived in the decades around the year 300. People came to him for spiritual and physical healing, and even on his way to the death the emperor put him through as a Christian, he saved a boy with a fish bone in his throat from suffocation. Blasius was canonized and he is celebrated today in Dubrovnik every February 3rd.
The church bearing his name was built 1706-1715 by the Venetian builder Marino Gropelli. The style is beautiful baroque, and previously there had been a 14th-century Romanesque church here, which survived the earthquake in 1667, but which was destroyed by a fire in 1706. In the church, you can see, among other things, the high altar with a gilded silver statue of Saint Blaise. The statue survived the church fire in 1706 and is from the 15th century.
The Roland Column is a statue column that is considered Dubrovnik’s oldest monument. It represents Roland, who is a medieval knight with a sword in his hand. Roland statues were a sign of freedom in many German cities at the time, and according to the assessment, it was the Bohemian king Sigismund who brought this otherwise northern European symbol to the Adriatic coastal city.
The statue was made in 1418 by Bonino of Milan. The name Roland comes from the French heroic poem “La Chanson de Roland”, which was based on Count Roland, who fell in an ambush during the Battle of Roncevaux in 778.
The Clock Tower in Dubrovnik is one of the city’s well-known buildings. It is 31 meters high and was built in the year 1444. The tower has survived earthquakes in the city and stood until 1906, when the risk of collapse meant that it was torn down to be rebuilt in 1929.
A detail in the tower is the two bronze figures who ring the bells. They are called Maro and Baro and replaced two original wooden figures. The two bronze figures are today copies of the original Maro and Baro, which can be found in the Sponza Palace opposite the bell tower.
Sponza Palace is a beautiful 16th-century mansion that was built in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles. The construction took place in the years 1516-1521, and its original purpose was as a trading post and customs office.
The arcades in the mansion’s atrium acted as a lively market place for merchant travelers during the Republic of Dubrovnik, during which the house also served many other purposes. Among them were as a literary meeting place for the well-educated citizens, as a school and as the seat of various financial institutions.
In the mansion, the State Archives/Državni arhiv are located in the building, and in the noble setting is a large collection of documents dating back about a thousand years. You can also see an exhibition about the defense of Dubrovnik during the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
The Rector’s Palace in Dubrovnik was built as the seat of government and residence of the prince, who were the highest political offices in the Republic of Dubrovnik. The political leader bore the title Rector, and hence the name Rector’s Palace. There were rectors as leaders of Ragusa, Republic of Dubrovnik, in the period 1358-1808. This was the period as a city-state and two years after the French Napoleon’s occupation of the city in 1806. However, the last rector sat at the head of Dubrovnik for 11 days in 1814. It was in the days 18-29. January, when the Republic had been freed from the French troops, but they were quickly superseded by the following Austrian conquest.
The Rector was elected for a period of one month, during which time he lived apart from his family, having offices and an apartment in the Rector’s Mansion. Only if there were protocol reasons could he leave the place and the city during his time as headmaster. He also kept the keys of the city at night and gave them back to the people in a ceremony in the morning. This laborious role is emphasized by the Latin inscription at the entrance: “Obliti privatorum publica curate”, which means to forget the private and care for the public.
Historically, there is mention of a building on this site from the 13th century, while the house was gradually converted into a political residence palace through the 14th century. There were many facilities in the building, from e.g. public offices and courtrooms to an arsenal and powder magazine. An explosion in this cloth house destroyed the original mansion in 1435, and a new one had to be built.
In the period 1435-1463, Italian Onofrio de la Cava built the new and current rector’s mansion in a mixture of Gothic style and Renaissance architecture. Shortly after completion and during the earthquake in the city in 1667, the building suffered major damage and had to be restored. In 1689, the architect Tommaso Napoli remodeled the building’s atrium in baroque style.
Today, the building houses a museum of the Republic, the Palace and the history of Dubrovnik. Here you can experience furnishings from the last period of the life of the Republic of Dubrovnik and from the 19th century. The furniture for the interior was collected from the town’s old mansions, villas and townhouses, so that a correct impression of the time could be formed. There is also a gallery with works by masters from the 15th-18th centuries in the Rector’s Palace, whose atmospheric atrium is used for various events during the season.
Stara Luka is the port where the large merchant ships of the Republic of Dubrovnik called out and brought goods home to the city. As a city-state on the Adriatic Sea, the port was economically vital for Dubrovnik, which with its favorable natural location and fortified harbor could defend Stare Luke quite effectively.
Today, the harbor is a lovely marina with countless yachts. From the site, you can see Dubrovnik’s solid defense walls and imagine how history was written in the harbor. You can also get an impression of the impressive dimensions of the city and the state’s city walls and other defense buildings.
Jesuit priests came to Dubrovnik in the first half of the 16th century, and they wanted, among other things, to open a Jesuit school, as the order did throughout most of the world. In Dubrovnik they opened the school in 1658, where the later so famous Collegium Ragusinum was established.
The Jesuits ran the school until their order was closed down by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. The school was then taken over by the Piarists, who are also a Roman Catholic order with education and upbringing as a focal point. Today, the building and thus the school functions as a classic high school.
Saint Ignatius Church is a Jesuit church in Dubrovnik that was built after inspiration from the church of the same name in Rome. The beautiful baroque church was completed in 1725 according to Andrea Pozzo’s design.
Both the outside and the inside of the church are worth seeing. In the square in front of Saint Ignatius Church, there is an imposing staircase which was modeled after the Spanish Steps in Rome. At the top stands the church with its elegant facade. Behind it, in the church room, you can experience illusionistic frescoes that were typical in Baroque churches. The frescoes depict scenes from the life of Ignatius of Loyola.
Ignatius of Loyola was the one who in 1534 founded the Jesuit Order, which was confirmed by the Pope in 1540. The Order consisted of priests who had to be unconditionally available to the Pope, and they fought for the supremacy and influence of the Catholic Church. The right religious upbringing and education was in focus, which is why the order established churches and schools all over the world. The order was abolished in 1773 by the Pope, but re-established in 1814, and it remains active today.
Neum is a coastal town located north of Dubrovnik on the few kilometers long stretch of coast that constitutes Bosnia and Herzegovina’s only direct access to the sea. This makes it a favorite excursion destination not least from the rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with large hotels, beautiful cliffs and sandy beaches, Neum is also worth a trip.
On both sides of Neum is Croatia, and this particular geographical construction has its origins in the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, when Neum became Ottoman in order to divide the Republic of Dubrovnik and the Venetian presence in the region. The Treaty of Karlowitz was concluded in the wake of the Ottoman Empire’s defeat in the Great Turkish War in the years 1683-1697.
Međugorje is a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina that has been a major Catholic pilgrimage destination since 1981. It became the one after the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, which reportedly started precisely in 1981, when six Herzegovinian children aged 10 to 16 experienced the first apparition of Our Lady of Međugorje.
The biggest attraction in the city is the Marian shrine, which has become one of Europe’s most visited places of pilgrimage, where more than a million people come every year. In parts of the 1980s, pilgrims were not allowed by the authorities to make pilgrimages here, but at the end of the decade it became possible. Since then, the facilities and traffic have grown.
Mostar is one of the main cities of Herzegovina, and its name comes from mostari, referring to the people who stood guard at the city’s old bridge. Mostar is strategically located between the Adriatic Sea and resource-rich central Bosnia, and this gave Mostar growth over the years. In 1468, the city came under Ottoman rule, and Mostar was fortified in the period 1520-1566, which was also the year when Sultan Suleiman the Mighty replaced the city’s old wooden bridge with the current one made of stone, which is Mostar’s landmark.
Stari Most is the central and most famous of Mostar’s bridges. Both the bridge and the surrounding part of Mostar’s old town were included in UNESCO’s list of world cultural heritage in 2005. Stari Most connects the two halves of the city, and over the years there have been jumping competitions from the bridge into the river Neretva. One can enjoy the bridge from the walk above it and from the accessible riverside area below.
Herceg Novi is a Montenegrin city located on the entrance to the Bay of Kotor, locally called Boka Kotorska/Бока Которска. Over time, since its founding in 1382, it has belonged to the various powers that have ruled the area; among others the Turkish Ottomans and the Austrians.
Today, Herceg Novi is a well-known and well-visited tourist town known as a spa center. In addition to the pure relaxation and beautiful view of the water, there are several sights such as King Tvrtko I’s fortress Forte Mare, which was established as the beginning of the city in 1382. You can also see the Archangel Michael Church/Црква светог Арханђела Михаила and the bell tower Sahat Kula/ Сахат кула as other destinations.
Kotor & Bay of Kotor is one of the most scenic areas in southwestern Montenegro. All the way around the Bay of Kotor there are countless beautiful scenes, and since 1979 the bay has also been included in UNESCO’s list of world natural heritage.
On a trip around the Bay of Kotor, you immediately understand why, and an excursion destination can be the city of Kotor, which lies at the very bottom of the bay. You can take a ferry across the narrowest part of Kotor Bay and thereby take a shortcut to some experiences, but the longer trip around the shore is recommended.
The Bay of Kotor is a flooded gorge that the river Bokelj has formed over time as it flows down from the mountain Orjen. The bay is 87 km2 in size, and the distance from the Adriatic Sea to Kotor is 28 kilometers. There is a total coastline of 107 kilometers, and at its narrowest point the bay is only 300 meters wide.
On the trip around the bay, there are many Catholic and Orthodox churches and monasteries, most of which are picturesquely located in the countryside or in cozy towns. Among them is the city of Perast north of Kotor. The city itself is beautifully situated, and off it are the islands of St. George, Sveti Djorde/Свети Дорђе, and Our Lady of the Mountain, Gospa od Shkrpjela/Госпа од Шкрпјела. Sankt Jørgen is a natural island where a Benedictine monastery is located, while Vor Frue på Bjerget is artificial and home to a church.
In the city of Kotor itself, there is a beautiful old quarter, which is among the best preserved in the entire region. The district is on UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites, and here are sights from different eras in the city’s history. You can see, for example, parts of Venetian defenses and the elegant Saint Tryphon Cathedral, Katedrala Svetog Tripuna/Катедрала Светог Трипуна, which was consecrated in 1166.
Budva is a city located on the Montenegrin Adriatic coast and is the center of coastal tourism in Montenegro. Budva and the area around the city are known for its fine sandy beaches, many hotels and rich nightlife. In addition, Budva was founded 3,500 years ago, making it one of the oldest settlements on the Adriatic Sea.
Budva’s old town lies like a peninsula out into the water to the southwest of the city. From here, the city spreads northeast along the beautiful Slovenian Beach, Slovenska Plaszha/Словенска плача. It is also in this direction that Budva’s marina and many hotels and apartment buildings are located. A few hundred meters west of the old town is the beach Mogren/Могрен, which is completely shielded from the city and thus almost completely out in nature.
Sveti Stefan is a town and island with a coastline of about two kilometers. A dam has now been built from the mainland, and the Montenegrin island has therefore become landlocked. Sveti Stefan was established in the 15th century as a fortified town in defense against the Turkish Ottomans.
Originally 12 families lived here, and later the number of inhabitants grew to several hundred with a dense and cozy settlement in, for example, the 19th century. This old environment has been preserved to this day, and several celebrities and notables have appreciated Sveti Stefan over time. For example, the Serbian queen Marija Karadordevic had a summer residence here in the 1930s.
During the Yugoslav era, Sveti Stefan was transformed into a luxury resort, and between the 1960s and 1980s royalty, movie stars and sports stars visited the island. After a break, the island is operated again today as a luxury resort.
Podgorica is a city that is one of Europe’s newest capitals, gaining this status with Montenegro’s independence in 2006. For many decades in the 1900s, both the city and Montenegro were part of Yugoslavia, and in tribute to the head of state Josip Tito was Podgorica in the years 1946- 1992 known as Titograd.
Podgorica is beautifully situated in the Montrinean countryside on the site of the Ribnica and Morača rivers; just the outlet of Ribnica is one of the city’s scenic and pleasant sights. Podgorica is also located at the foot of the Gorica ridge, which is exactly what the capital’s name means.
Ul. Mata Vodopića
Vukovarska ulica
Vukovarska ulica 24
Ul. Nikole Tesle 2
minceta.hr
Stradun, Placa ul., Ul. Nikole Tesle, Obala Stjepana Radića, Vukovarska ulica
Jadrolinija
Obala Ivana Pavla II
jadrolinija.hr
Pomorski Muzej
Ul. kneza Damjana Jude 2
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Dubrovačke gracious zidine
Ulica Iza Grada
Dubrovnik Cable Car
Petra Krešimira IV
dubrovnikcablecar.com
Where today’s Cavtat is located, the Roman city of Epidaurum was home to up to 40,000 people. It was a place that was strategically well located on the trade routes in the area, and thus the economy thrived.
With the century-long decline of the Roman Empire, the Epidaurum was also affected. At first it was an earthquake that struck, and later the city was plundered by some of the invading tribes, who came in larger volumes to the regions of the Adriatic coast.
The remaining Epidaurum inhabitants fled northwest along the coast, where they settled on the island of Laus, and that settlement eventually developed into Ragusium, which became part of today’s Dubrovnik.
In the 600s, Croatian tribes came to the area around the Strait of Laus, where they established a settlement called Dubrovnik. The Croatian and former Roman population lived as in two cities with internal trade.
It did not take long for the two settlements to develop into a unified city and this quickly became larger and economically important in the area. By the 8th century, it had also become so strong that it could withstand the 15-month siege exposed by the Syrian Saracens.
In the 11th century, the two former cities were physically joined together as the narrow channel between the districts was filled. The filling created the street Stradun, which remains the unifying street in Dubrovnik’s old town.
Dubrovnik developed rapidly. There were skilled craftsmen and good merchants, who among other things exploited Epidaurum’s traditions in shipbuilding and the area’s many oak forests, which represented considerable value. As a result, Dubrovnik was, after a few centuries, a center for both trade and shipping.
Dubrovnik formally belonged to the Byzantine Empire as a protectorate, but as early as the 12th century the city elected its own rector, constituting a political authority with increasing powers. However, the partial political freedom did not last long.
One of the great powers of the time was the Republic of Venice, which was a major trade and maritime nation. In 1205, Venice conquered Dubrovnik, and the Italian city-state came to rule for the next approximately 150 years.
Venice appointed members to Dubrovnik City Council, thereby greatly reducing the city to a form of directly controlled Venetian rule, which for a time slowed the otherwise rapidly developing economy.
Dubrovnik was during Venice’s time through the 1200-1300s known as Communitas Ragusina. That changed with the 13th century’s submission of Austrian domination with local autonomy.
During this period, the city became Respublica Ragusina and was thus a republic, although it formally belonged to the Austrian monarchy. As a republic, the city developed again and it became one of Venice’s competitors in the Adriatic.
Throughout the following centuries, the heyday continued, building on trade and diplomacy. A neutrality, even helping several warring parties at the same time, was crucial to the republic’s freedom. It was managed to also trade with both the British Isles and India, where there was a consul in Goa.
The city and the republic were of an international nature and attracted many foreign merchants. The official language was Latin until 1472, after which a local variant of the Romanian language was changed. However, large sections of the population spoke Croatian daily.
The Roman Epidaurum was hit and destroyed by an earthquake in its day, and in 1667 it came to a repeat for the Republic of Ragusina. The town’s mansions, churches, houses and public buildings were largely shaken in ruins while about 5,000 people perished. However, the city walls were still standing, but the quake gave both Venice and the Turkish Ottomans conquest ambitions.
However, the Republic came to pass thanks to diplomacy and a large-scale rebuilding of Dubrovnik happened over time. However, the city never regained its former strength and economic capacity, so the quake became an event that radically changed the city’s history.
With Napoleon as leader, France’s military and political power grew over Europe, and in 1806 the French troops stood at Dubrovnik’s city gates. They asked for free passage through the territory of the Republic, and it was complied with.
However, the French were not satisfied with the passage, but remained in the city. Furthermore, Napoleon became the end of the time as an independent republic. In 1808, Respublica Ragusina was dissolved and after Napoleon’s fall Dubrovnik became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of 1815.
After the Vienna Congress, the area along the Adriatic Sea came under Austrian rule, and the Kingdom of Dalmatia was established with Zadar as the administrative city. There had been attempts to restore Dubrovnik as a republic, but these were not successful.
The Austrian government was characterized by administrative measures that did not bring about effective centralization, and at the same time, ethnic nationalism grew larger in the Balkans. It was a German-speaking monarchy and administration that led Dalmatia and including the Italian-Croatian speaking Dubrovnik.
In addition to an ever-increasing local political power spread along the coastal areas, and a Croatian political victory in Split spread to Dubrovnik, among others. However, everything was not in the mark of politics, and a general expansion of the city also took place. Dubrovnik had gradually expanded sharply from the old city, which lay behind the city’s solid defense walls. There were several urban planning projects in the decades around 1900; for example, the construction of electric trams.
After World War I Dubrovnik became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was the start of all of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Croatia became a puppet state, occupied first by Italy and then by Germany. Josip Broz Tito’s partisans fought for freedom, and they reached Dubrovnik in October 1944. After World War II, the city became part of Croatia, which was part of Tito’s federal socialist republic of Yugoslavia.
Today, Dubrovnik is part of independent Croatia, but the detachment from Yugoslavia did not happen without a sword for Dubrovnik. From October 1, 1991 to May 26, 1992, the city was besieged by the Federal Yugoslav Army. Dubrovnik was fired from both the air, sea and land, and for several months the city was completely cut off, for example, from electricity and fresh water supplies.
The siege ended with a Yugoslav withdrawal, and since then Dubrovnik has been rebuilt following the significant damage suffered by the old buildings during the bombings.
As part of Croatia, Dubrovnik is part of the EU. The city stands as in ancient glory after restoration and partial rebuilding after the siege of 1991-1992, and tourists flock to the former republic to enjoy the fine atmosphere that prevails both in the streets of the old town and in the parts of Dubrovnik that is located along the Adriatic coast. The new Dubrovnik Cable Car cable car is ready to take tourists from the city up into the mountains behind with a magnificent view.
Dubrovnik, Croatia[/caption]
Overview of Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city and one of the tourist gems of the Adriatic with a great location and an exciting history, dating back to both the Roman Empire and the centuries as an independent republic with a large and thriving trade.
The old town behind the heavily fortified walls and towers is the heart of the city and the reason that so many tourists visit Dubrovnik. Narrow alleys, beautiful streets and fine squares with a wealth of architectural masterpieces are some of the things you find here. The prosperous past of the city as Ragusa does reflect the city scene along, for example, the main street Stradun.
The Rector’s Palace was the political center of the Republic of Ragusa, and the Ragusian city hall, bell tower, several churches and lavash residences were built in the sam neighborhood. They still stand as a beautiful composition of the rich and bygone era.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
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Language: English
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Pila Gate was Dubrovnik’s primary city gate, leading through the city’s thick fortress walls. The gate’s defense consisted of both moats, drawbridge and Fort Bokar. Already in the 9th century, the first smaller castle was built here, and part of it was preserved with the construction of Pila Gate, whose outer Renaissance entrance dates from 1573. The inner gate is Gothic and was built around 1460.
Today the moat at the gate is dry, but otherwise the entrance to the city is the same as in the heyday of the walls. Above the entrance of the gate itself, you can see a statue of St. Blasius/Sveti Vlaho, who is the patron saint of Dubrovnik. The statue was made by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović.
The Minčeta Tower is one of the most solid and impressive of Dubrovnik’s fortress buildings. It was built in the northern corner of the city walls and is the highest part of the city’s defenses.
The first fort on this site was built in 1319 and it stood until the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. This event made Dubrovnik want to strengthen the Minčeta, and they summoned the architect Michelozzo di Bartolomeo from Florence. He built the round tower with six meter thick walls from 1461. However, Di Bartolomeo left the city in 1464 and Juraj Dalmatinac came to build most of the tower.
Today, Minčeta still towers high above Dubrovnik, and in addition to the exciting defenses, it is a fantastic experience to enjoy the view of the city and the sea from the top of the tower. The name Minčeta comes from the Menčetić family, who owned this place before the tower was built.
The elegant Church of the Annunciation is Dubrovnik’s Serbian Orthodox church building. The building itself was built in 1877, but you can see quite a few older icons from the 15th and 16th centuries in its interior. In addition to the church space itself, you can see a museum in the church, where religious works of art are stored.
The relatively late construction of the church is not least due to the fact that it was forbidden in the Republic of Dubrovnik to practice other faiths than the Catholic one, let alone stay as, for example, Orthodox within the city walls. The only exception was a single active synagogue. This policy weakened over time, and in 1790 an Orthodox congregation was established in the previously forbidden area in the city center.
In 1804, the first Orthodox church was built, which took place outside the walls, and in 1877 this was built through, among other things, lobbying from the Russian consul and the bishop of Montenegro.
Church of Saint Blaise is named after Dubrovnik’s patron saint and is located as a beautiful baroque church in the city center. Blaise was bishop of Sebaste, Armenia, and lived in the decades around the year 300. People came to him for spiritual and physical healing, and even on his way to the death the emperor put him through as a Christian, he saved a boy with a fish bone in his throat from suffocation. Blasius was canonized and he is celebrated today in Dubrovnik every February 3rd.
The church bearing his name was built 1706-1715 by the Venetian builder Marino Gropelli. The style is beautiful baroque, and previously there had been a 14th-century Romanesque church here, which survived the earthquake in 1667, but which was destroyed by a fire in 1706. In the church, you can see, among other things, the high altar with a gilded silver statue of Saint Blaise. The statue survived the church fire in 1706 and is from the 15th century.
The Roland Column is a statue column that is considered Dubrovnik’s oldest monument. It represents Roland, who is a medieval knight with a sword in his hand. Roland statues were a sign of freedom in many German cities at the time, and according to the assessment, it was the Bohemian king Sigismund who brought this otherwise northern European symbol to the Adriatic coastal city.
The statue was made in 1418 by Bonino of Milan. The name Roland comes from the French heroic poem “La Chanson de Roland”, which was based on Count Roland, who fell in an ambush during the Battle of Roncevaux in 778.
The Clock Tower in Dubrovnik is one of the city’s well-known buildings. It is 31 meters high and was built in the year 1444. The tower has survived earthquakes in the city and stood until 1906, when the risk of collapse meant that it was torn down to be rebuilt in 1929.
A detail in the tower is the two bronze figures who ring the bells. They are called Maro and Baro and replaced two original wooden figures. The two bronze figures are today copies of the original Maro and Baro, which can be found in the Sponza Palace opposite the bell tower.
Sponza Palace is a beautiful 16th-century mansion that was built in a mixture of Gothic and Renaissance styles. The construction took place in the years 1516-1521, and its original purpose was as a trading post and customs office.
The arcades in the mansion’s atrium acted as a lively market place for merchant travelers during the Republic of Dubrovnik, during which the house also served many other purposes. Among them were as a literary meeting place for the well-educated citizens, as a school and as the seat of various financial institutions.
In the mansion, the State Archives/Državni arhiv are located in the building, and in the noble setting is a large collection of documents dating back about a thousand years. You can also see an exhibition about the defense of Dubrovnik during the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
The Rector’s Palace in Dubrovnik was built as the seat of government and residence of the prince, who were the highest political offices in the Republic of Dubrovnik. The political leader bore the title Rector, and hence the name Rector’s Palace. There were rectors as leaders of Ragusa, Republic of Dubrovnik, in the period 1358-1808. This was the period as a city-state and two years after the French Napoleon’s occupation of the city in 1806. However, the last rector sat at the head of Dubrovnik for 11 days in 1814. It was in the days 18-29. January, when the Republic had been freed from the French troops, but they were quickly superseded by the following Austrian conquest.
The Rector was elected for a period of one month, during which time he lived apart from his family, having offices and an apartment in the Rector’s Mansion. Only if there were protocol reasons could he leave the place and the city during his time as headmaster. He also kept the keys of the city at night and gave them back to the people in a ceremony in the morning. This laborious role is emphasized by the Latin inscription at the entrance: “Obliti privatorum publica curate”, which means to forget the private and care for the public.
Historically, there is mention of a building on this site from the 13th century, while the house was gradually converted into a political residence palace through the 14th century. There were many facilities in the building, from e.g. public offices and courtrooms to an arsenal and powder magazine. An explosion in this cloth house destroyed the original mansion in 1435, and a new one had to be built.
In the period 1435-1463, Italian Onofrio de la Cava built the new and current rector’s mansion in a mixture of Gothic style and Renaissance architecture. Shortly after completion and during the earthquake in the city in 1667, the building suffered major damage and had to be restored. In 1689, the architect Tommaso Napoli remodeled the building’s atrium in baroque style.
Today, the building houses a museum of the Republic, the Palace and the history of Dubrovnik. Here you can experience furnishings from the last period of the life of the Republic of Dubrovnik and from the 19th century. The furniture for the interior was collected from the town’s old mansions, villas and townhouses, so that a correct impression of the time could be formed. There is also a gallery with works by masters from the 15th-18th centuries in the Rector’s Palace, whose atmospheric atrium is used for various events during the season.
Stara Luka is the port where the large merchant ships of the Republic of Dubrovnik called out and brought goods home to the city. As a city-state on the Adriatic Sea, the port was economically vital for Dubrovnik, which with its favorable natural location and fortified harbor could defend Stare Luke quite effectively.
Today, the harbor is a lovely marina with countless yachts. From the site, you can see Dubrovnik’s solid defense walls and imagine how history was written in the harbor. You can also get an impression of the impressive dimensions of the city and the state’s city walls and other defense buildings.
Jesuit priests came to Dubrovnik in the first half of the 16th century, and they wanted, among other things, to open a Jesuit school, as the order did throughout most of the world. In Dubrovnik they opened the school in 1658, where the later so famous Collegium Ragusinum was established.
The Jesuits ran the school until their order was closed down by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. The school was then taken over by the Piarists, who are also a Roman Catholic order with education and upbringing as a focal point. Today, the building and thus the school functions as a classic high school.
Saint Ignatius Church is a Jesuit church in Dubrovnik that was built after inspiration from the church of the same name in Rome. The beautiful baroque church was completed in 1725 according to Andrea Pozzo’s design.
Both the outside and the inside of the church are worth seeing. In the square in front of Saint Ignatius Church, there is an imposing staircase which was modeled after the Spanish Steps in Rome. At the top stands the church with its elegant facade. Behind it, in the church room, you can experience illusionistic frescoes that were typical in Baroque churches. The frescoes depict scenes from the life of Ignatius of Loyola.
Ignatius of Loyola was the one who in 1534 founded the Jesuit Order, which was confirmed by the Pope in 1540. The Order consisted of priests who had to be unconditionally available to the Pope, and they fought for the supremacy and influence of the Catholic Church. The right religious upbringing and education was in focus, which is why the order established churches and schools all over the world. The order was abolished in 1773 by the Pope, but re-established in 1814, and it remains active today.
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