The first time I ever heard of
Dubrovnik was during the civil war in 1991 when Yugoslavia was being dismantled and for a few months that city was in the news as it was being besieged and pummeled. Today,
Dubrovnik is one of the twenty counties in
Croatia, which with its 800 km coastline, is considered and important entrance to the
Adriatic sea.
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| The old and new side by side |
It was only when going on a
Mediterranean cruise and seeing this as a port of call, that I did some further research and realised that this had been an ancient city highly treasured by
UNESCO which protects world heritage sites and it is was now a prime tourism destination and a very modern and beautiful city too. Further, the mild
Mediterranean climate makes it a very attractive to people from northern climes.
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| The walled city |
The
old city I learnt was actually established sometime around the
8th century by Greek sailors and is encircled by a thick
2 km long wall with 25 fortresses inside. Over the centuries the city was colonized by many conquerors although it did become independent for a relatively short time between the
14th century and 1808.
The
walled city which still boasts a profusion of
Greek, Roman and
Baroque architecture was established sometime in the 12th century became a UNESCO site in 1979 but it was a major target of the warring factions for seven months during the civil war and when you visit the old town today, not only do you see lots of bullet holes, but the vast sections that have been repaired are also obvious as the colour of the material used to carry out the repairs is much lighter than the original structure.
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| This fountain is typical roman architecture. |
Despite this however, there is a whole lot to see and learn about what happened behind those walls in the olden days. For example, in the town square you can stand in front of the fountain where in the
15th century not only were persons who were sentenced to death hanged publicly, but after they died,
they were quartered! Yuck.
And these were religious people who never failed to build and decorate their places of worship beautifully.
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| Inside one of the churches in the old city |
Close to the old city, is the small island of
Lokrum where
Maximilian once had a holiday home, but today it is uninhabited but preserved as a very important forest reserve famous for its huge
eucalyptus trees. There is also an old
monastery there which is now run s a restaurant.
You can rent rubber dingies at the old city and row your way over to
Lokrum.
Another means of getting there too is via cable car from the fort which was built by
Napoleon on the over 4000 foot hills above. The cable cars were first introduced 1964, destroyed in the civil war but reestablished in 2010.
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Rowing over to Lokrum
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Dubrovnik is
really a beautiful place to visit if for no other reason than to see the contrast between old and new cities.
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| The old fort on top of the mountain overlooking Lokrum |
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| Overlooking Dubrovnik |
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Inside the old city
JOAN WILLIAMS, moderator of
Joan Williams on Line broadcast on POWER
106, describes herself as an unapologetic addict to the Jamaican outdoors. A
foundation member of FUN AND THRILLS ADVENTURE CLUB, she explores the island at
any given opportunity cycling, hiking or
swimming with that group, family, Jah 3 and anyone else who will have her. In
1995, she published the popular TOUR JAMAICA and the 4th edition is
now an ebook available at;
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