Today we anchored off the old port of Dubrovnik,
Croatia. Romans fleeing the
barbarians on the Italian
peninsula settled the city in the 700’s AD and named it Ragusa. Many natives still call it that. It’s sometimes called the Pearl of the
Adriatic and is one of the best-preserved medieval walled cities in the
world. After the breakup of the
country of Yugoslavia in 1991, Dubrovnik was attacked by forces of the Yugoslav
National Army (mainly Serbs and Montenegrins) and was significantly shelled
during a siege which lasted for
about seven months. After the end of the war the walls and city were restored to the original style and the city is
now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The walls are impressive and draw many
visitors (nearly one million last year).
They encircle the old city and are about 2 km long. On the landward side they are between 4
and 6 meters thick, while on the seaward side they are much thinner.
After tendering ashore we met our guide and we took a walk
to the lower terminus of the cable car that takes you to the top of the nearby
mountain for a panoramic view of the city and sea below. It’s quite an impressive sight to see
the old city perched on a rocky promontory surrounded by the massive wall
punctuated by stout towers to help in its defense.
After spending a little time at the summit we took the cable
car down and walked to the Pile Gate.
The last time I was there was in the summer of 2014 with Katie and there
were so many people trying to get through the gate that I gave up and went back
to the ship. Today was a pleasant
change. We walked through the
walls with our guide Ivanne and strolled through the old city. The amount of history she recounted to
us was overwhelming. There was a
great earthquake in the 17th century which destroyed many of the
buildings so most of the architecture of the existing buildings is in the
baroque style. There are only a
few structures which are original and dating back to either the Gothic or
Romanesque style.
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| As we walked to the gate we passed the fire station and these firemen were practicing a stretcher rescue |
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| A little hard to see but there are lots of steps down this street. Natives of Dubrovnik must have good knees and good stamina. |
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| The Church of St. Blaise on the main square. He's the favorite saint of Dubrovnik because according to local lore he saved the city several times. |
After seeing the main sights we decided it was time to find
an outdoor restaurant and try some Croatian food and wine. Ragusans are fond of fish (stands to
reason since they are on the sea). We had an excellent meal of grilled fish and
some delicious Croatia dry rose.
It would have been perfect had it not started to rain and thunder. We were under cover but we did get a
little damp going back to the tender.
We didn’t melt so I guess we’re okay.
Now as I sit on our balcony it looks like the thunderstorm
has passed and all is well with the world again. Tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way out of the Adriatic
and around the tip of the boot of Italy.
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