Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dubrovnik Highlights
Revelling in the most lovely and touristy of activities: gazing down on Dubrovnik from its
city walls
(
Click
here
).
Visiting the excellent
War Photo Limited
(
Click here
) gallery and putting recent Balkan history in perspect-
ive.
Enjoying a sundowner from one of the
Buža
(
Click here
) bars.
Exploring the marbled streets of the
Old Town
(
Click here
) early in the morning or late at night, free from the
cruise-ship crowds.
Taking the revamped
cable car
(
Click here
) up to Mt Srđ for expansive views and an interesting display on
Dubrovnik's bombardment.
Quenching your thirst in the time-honoured way, at the
Onofrio Fountain
(
Click here
).
History
After the Slavs wiped out the Roman city of Epidaurum (site of present-day Cavtat) in the
7th century, survivors fled to the safest place they could find - a rocky islet separated from
the mainland by a narrow channel. By the end of the 12th century the city they founded,
Ragusa (later called Dubrovnik), had become an important trading centre on the coast. It
came under Venetian authority in 1205, finally breaking away from its control in 1358.
Through canny diplomacy the Republic of Ragusa maintained good relations with every-
one - even the Ottoman Empire, to which it began paying tribute in the 16th century.
Centuries of peace and prosperity allowed art, science and literature to flourish, but
most of the Renaissance art and architecture in Dubrovnik was destroyed in the earthquake
of 1667, which killed 5000 people and left the city in ruins. The earthquake also marked
the beginning of the economic decline of the republic. The final
coup de grâce
was dealt
by Napoleon in 1808.
Caught in the cross-hairs of the war that ravaged former Yugoslavia, Dubrovnik was
pummelled with some 2000 shells in 1991 and 1992.
Sights
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