Croatia: Dubrovnik

Walled City of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik from the Hotel Excelsior terrace.

Fourteen hundred years ago Greco-Roman refugees settled on a small island just of the coast while Slavs settled on the mainland separated from the island by a narrow channel of water in a town which became Dubrovnik. The channel was filled and the cultures mixed and later the town came under the control of Byzantium then Venice.

Ploce Gate

St. John's Bastion on the southeast of Dubrovnik protects the entrance to the Old Port.

It is a striking city, completely surrounded by a wall, 2km in length, which we walked around on a beautiful day after an excellent breakfast at the Hotel Excelsior, just down the coast and which has fabulous views of Dubrovnik.

We entered the city via the Ploce Gate on the south side then walked west along the north wall.

Some of the fortifications date from the tenth century but most from the twelfth and thirteenth.

The Bell Tower stands on Luza, a square on the east side of Dubrovnik. Two figures strike the bell with hammers, modern replicas of fifteenth century statues and a symbol of the city.

A rather unorthodox basketball court.

Dubrovnik

Stradun, the main east west artery of the Old Town. On the left is the Franciscan monastery, lower right the edge of Onofrio's Large Fountain.

Minceta Fortress

Looking down into the cloisters of the fourteenth century Franciscan Monastery.

Sixteenth century St. Lawrence Fortress west of the Old Town.

Old Port

Entrance to the Dominican Monastery.
Dubrovnik

Sponza Palace
Dubrovnik

Relief carving of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, on a column of the Rector's Palace south of Luza.

Grand Baroque staircase leading to the Jesuit Church.

There is little shade on the walls so it can be quite uncomfortable on a hot day. - we were glad to get back down into the shade of the narrow streets of the Old Town.

Slender pyramid on the Jesuit Church

Memorial Room of the Defenders of Dubrovnik in the Sponza Palace.

The Sponza Palace - once the custom house and mint - is at the east end of Stradun on the north side of Luza square. The Memorial Room of the Defenders of Dubrovnik here has photographs of those who died during the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991-92 when the city was attacked by the Yugoslav People's Army, part of a plan to prevent Croatian independence.

Lunch at Zuzori.

Chicken with apple, pecorino cheese and potato wedges at Zuzori.

Lunch at Zuzori. Beginning with and olive paste and warm bread appetiser we had the excellent chorizo and prawn croquettes followed by pork an chicken dishes and finishing with a shared chocolate lava cake.

Franciscan Monastery cloisters.

After lunch we visited the peaceful Franciscan Monastery at the west end of Stradun. Its Romanesque cloisters are supported by columns whose capitals are wonderfully carved with faces and mythical beasts.

In the Franciscan Monastery is this lovely painting of the Old Town of Dubrovnik before the earthquake of 1667 which destroyed many of the buildings and killed 5,000 people.

There are some lovely alleys and peaceful quarters of Dubrovnik - it's worth getting away from the main tourist drag - Stradun and the cathedral - to seek them out.