Walking On the Walls

Our guide Antonia took us on a 2 mile walk along the top of the wall surrounding the medieval city of Dubrovnik. The sites were spectacular as she explained the development of this city as a commercial trading post. Throughout history Dubrovnik has been blessed with wise negotiators who achieved diplomatic solutions to many of the state’s problems. When the French came under Napoleon in the early 19th century, the citizens here knew that they could not resist. Therefore they surrendered and accepted French rule. The advantage was that Napoleon granted them a stable government and many improvements in health and education. He destroyed no buildings and left the city walls built in the 11th century completely intact. On the other hand in 1991 when neighbor Serbia attacked Dubrovnik, it was clear that military resistance was the only option. After walking around the city we took a tramway to the top of a mountain overlooking the town. We had lunch at the top of a scenic mountain and then visited the adjacent museum inside a two-hundred-year-old fortress. Fort Imperial was built by Napoleon, but it was used in 1995 by the Croatian military to defend the town against Serbian attacks. On a single day 19 citizens were killed and 60 were wounded by Serbian aggressors. Now Fort Imperial houses a museum with photographs and equipment from what this nation calls the Homeland War.

After our foray on the mountain top, we returned to the streets of Dubrovnik. For an hour we simply walked around and hung out in the historic area. Completely surrounded by 11th and 12th century structures one can lose oneself in time. After exploring the streets and alleyways we reluctantly returned to the 21st-century and took the bus back to the ship.Read more