Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is an Adriatic Sea cruise port and city in Croatia, and one of Europe's historically most popular vacation destinations. The city has a population of around 43,000.

Medieval Dubrovnik (Ragusa) was founded by the Romans in the 7th century BC. It was the second-largest independent city-state in the Adriatic Sea (after Venice, Italy). This picturesque town is on the Dalmatian coast and best-known for its stone-made double walls and fortifications.

The perfectly preserved Old Town is unique with its steep cobbled streets, marble-paved squares, stone-made churches, palaces, and fountains. Among the city's historic buildings are two monasteries, the Rector's Palace, the mint house, and the customs house. The city walls run about 1.2 miles around it. The walls are 13 to 20 feet thick on the landward side but much thinner on the seaward side. The system of turrets and towers was intended for protection. Stradun, officially known as Placa, is the main street in Old Town Dubrovnik and has been a center of activity in the city since the 13th century. It actually used to be a channel before it was filled in to create a road. The Church of St. Blaise is an ornate Baroque-style church dedicated to the patron saint of Dubrovnik, making it the most beloved church in the city. It was constructed in 1715 by the Venetian architect Marino Gropelli on the spot of an older Romanesque church that was destroyed in the 1667 earthquake. Dubrovnik Cathedral, also called the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is the current seat of the Diocese of Dubrovnik. The Baroque cathedral that stands today was constructed in 1713, but there has been a cathedral at the site since the 6th century. It is located right by the Rector’s Palace on Stradun.

The city-state Ragusa (its former name) was under the protection, which they paid for, of the Byzantine Empire (867-1205), the Venetian Republic (until 1358), the Kingdom of Hungary (until 1526), and the Ottoman Empire (until 1806), but remained self-governing as an independent republic. In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte abolished its city-republic status. Following the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, in 1815, the Congress of Vienna ceded the port town to Austria. In 1920, following WW1 (1914-1918), the town became part of Yugoslavia. During WW2 (1939-1945), it was occupied by the Germans and Italians.

The tour unfortunately was mediocre, as was our guide, so we scoped out the historic sights on our own. It seemed like half the world was in the town square that day.Read more