The Walled City of Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was one of the ports I had really been looking forward to ever since we booked the trip.  It's Croatia's most visited city and is known as "The Pearl of the Adriatic".  Our guide yesterday told us that people who live there think themselves better than the rest of their fellow countrymen.  I don't know about that but I do know they have a stunning city.

It was too far to walk to the old town from port so we paid to take the Royal Caribbean shuttle into town.  There is no doubt this is the main tourist attraction in Croatia.  The traffic lined up on the narrow roads the closer we got to Grad Dubrovnik.

The fortified old town sits on the coast with a second fortress, Fort Lawrence on the right, just across this narrow opening.  It has stood here since the 11th century.  The old part of the city is, wait for it, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Dubrovnik’s meaning stems from “oak forest” which is what the original settlement was near.  For hundreds of years it was the center of the free merchant Republic of Ragusa, getting rich in the 15th and 16th centuries through its merchants, salt trade, and ship building.

The stone walls here were built between the 11th and 13th centuries to protect the city from wars and epidemics.  Entry into the city required that you bring a stone with you for the construction. 

With the height, breadth and mass of these walls it is mind boggling to me all the effort it would have taken to build them.  In the center of this photo is one of the three main entrances, the Pile Gate.

Just inside the gate is Onofrio’s Fountain which has been bringing water into the city since 1438.  At its unique 16 sides, a cupola and 16 water pipes you can still fill your water bottle with cool, potable water brought in through an aqueduct from 12 km (7.5 miles) away. 

Karl was a little leery of drinking the water but we didn't suffer any ill effects and it was cool and delicious on our warm day there.  The fountain was the city's main source of water until the end of the 19th century.  The dog atop the fountain is a replica of a statue residents named "Kuchak", meaning fountain dog. 

An earthquake and subsequent fire destroyed most of the city in 1667 so the majority of the older buildings are post-quake Baroque architecture.   The original "Kuchak" on the fountain had been destroyed in the earthquake.

We decided we would make the walk along the top of the wall.  The originals actually date back to the Middle Ages, around the 7th century, while the current walls are from the 15th century when they were built to protect the city, which was a republic of salt merchants, from the Venetian fleet.  We entered the wall walk through the Ploče Gate, which was slightly less crowded  The wall circuit is about 1.2 miles (2 km), took about two hours to walk with stairs (we did 21 flights!), photo stops and a pause along the way for some lemonade.. 

It's really hard to impart how huge these fortifications are.  You really need at least three days to explore the entire city properly.

One of several bell towers within the city.

Red tile roofs abound throughout the old town.  Around 1500 people still live within the city, but just as in Split those numbers keep dropping as homes are turned into hotels and shops.

More Old Town views.

During the war years in the early 1990’s, when it was still part of Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik became a city under siege for seven months, suffering massive damage even though the city itself had no strategic value.  It was speedily repaired following the war but if you look you’ll notice a difference in the red color between the old and new roof tiles.  There are many more new tiles than old as you look about to give you an idea of the extent of damage.

The highest point on the walls is the Minceta Tower.

You get stellar views of the city from up there.

It was also where we got our best view of Fort Imperial on the hill above the city.   In 1806 Napoleon arrived and asked for permission to pass through the city.  His request was granted but he tricked the residents and his army stayed, claiming the  country for four years.  The fortress was built on the hill above to keep an eye on the conquered.  You can take a cable car up to the top for view of the city.

More views from the tower.

The lighting was pretty good here.  I was wearing my new linen shirt from Split and decided it's much cooler than knits on a humid, hot day. 😊

We were here!

Once we left the tower we were heading toward the wall that faces the Adriatic.  Due to the crowds and the narrowness of the walkway you are only allowed to move around the wall in a counter clockwise direction.

Looking back at the Croatian flag flying atop the tower, plus another view of a church tower.

You can still see some of the damage from the bombings during the war years as we neared the spot closest to Fort Lawrence.

More damage and more red tile roofs.

We began to see more signs of people actually living in this part of the old city, lots of laundry haning out to dry.

Just a pretty shot looking towards Fort Lawrence.

Some of the narrow streets that people live along.

And a sneak peak into someone's pretty back yard.  This was the loveliest one I saw.

Another narrow street and a view looking towards the entrance to the old harbor on the south side of the fortress.

On the south side of the fortifications looking towards Fort Imperial atop the hill.  This was a reciprocal photo, I took one of a cute family and then the mom offered to take one of us.

This should give you an idea of the thickness of the walls.  The main walls on the city side are 13-20 feet thick, while on the sea side they are 5-10 feet thick.  The height reaches up to 83 feet in some places.

One yard had a massive bougainvillea in it that was absolutely beautiful.  This pretty little bell tower caught my eye as well.

Once our wall walk was finished we decided to sit in the shade to have some lunch in Old Town, opting for something off their daily menu that looked like it would be Croatian.  I ordered the Ćevapi, pictured below in the collage, which was minced lamb (probably) cooked on a kabob and served with red pepper relish (for lack of a better word) that was scrumptious, and fries.   Karl ordered the Pizza Capricciosa with fresh mushrooms and Prosciutto that was excellent as well.  We shared.

Next to the restaurant was the Blaise Church, dedicated to the patron saint of Dubrovnik.  The church is an 18th century Baroque building, rebuilt following the 17th century earthquake that destroyed so much of the city, and is one of the city’s landmarks.   On the right side of the church is a statue of St. Blaise himself who is the patron saint of Dubrovnik due to the protection he gave the city when he appeared to a priest in a dream, warning about an impending invasion of the Venetians which the citizens were then able to repel.  

More statues adorn the top of the church.

Inside the church is a Titian triptych, pictured here, and other works by Italian and Croatian artists. You can also view some gold-plated bones of St. Blaise but we didn't want to pay the €4 each that it cost to go into the treasury to view them.

I really loved these more modern paintings of Christ on the way to the cross.  These were lovely and moving at the same time.

The search was then on for a little gelato and since my research showed that Gianni was an excellent choice in Dubrovnik, plus it was only a few steps away, we opted for some there.  This sign they had there cracked me up.

They had several delicious looking flavors but I decided on a White Chocolate Strawberry Cookie flavor and some Dubrovnik Wild Orange.  Karl had the Orange, his usual Mango, and some Strawberry.  No contest, the Wild Orange was the favorite for both of us.  It had bits of candied orange peel in it.  I have got to remember to make that with orange peel rather than toss it!

We wandered the well worn streets of Old Town some more,

admiring the details on the tops of columns,

and being careful not to misstep in one of these shallow depressions in the streets.  These would have been filled with waste in the old days, which would have made for some smelly streets.

We came across another someone who is supposed to make your wishes come true when we saw the statue of Marin Držić, the father of Croatian literature who is considered their best Renaissance writer.  When you find him you notice that his nose is bright gold, reminiscent of the toe on the statue in Split that I mentioned last post, and if you rub that nose while making a wish it is said it will come true, so of course we gave it a try.  You may or may not remember another statue of him in Split as well, no rubbing that one though.

Here's Karl on the main street in Old Town called the Stadun or Placa Stadun where there are all sorts of shops and cafes,

plus smaller streets to explore off of it.  All of this part of Dubrovnik is pedestrian only and most of its main attractions are in this general area,

Having just about melted we were ready to bid farewell to Grad Dubrovnik, or Old Town Dubrovnik, so glad that we were able to come an explore.

As we left port that evening I had hoped we'd get close enough for me to get a good shot of the fortress but that wasn't to be, this was the best I could get.  It's an incredible place and one where you could easily spend a couple of days wandering around rather than just a few hours. Maybe on another trip to Croatia, maybe.....