Dubrovnik, Croatia
We began our day with an early morning walking tour of the Old Town of Dubrovnik, the city Byron called “The Pearl of the Adriatic.” Dubrovnik started out as a settlement to the south of its present location in Cavtat (Roman Epidarium), first settled by Illyrians and then by the Greeks as a trading outpost. An earthquake in the 7th century prompted the inhabitants to resettle on the rocky promontory of what is now the Old Town. The original name of Dubrovnik is Ragusa (probably from the Greek word lausa 'rock'). The wide street the locals call Stradun separated the nobility from the commoners who lived up the slopes of Mt. Srdj.
The current name Dubrovnik comes from the Slavic word dubrava 'oak' since the hills were covered with oak trees until the Venetians cut them down for ship building. Since the 13th century until the arrival of Napoleon's troops in 1808, Dubrovnik managed to maintain its status as an independent city-state through shrewd negotiations with the Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman Empires. One salient mark of this independence is the noticeable lack of the Venetian lion which we saw everywhere in Hvar and Korèula, as well as its slogan “Libertas” (“Freedom”). Instead of the lion of St. Mark, St. Blaise (Sveti Vlaho) holds the city in the palm of his hand.
The Rector’s Palace served as our beginning point for orientation to the political structure of Dubrovnik and then we walked through the side streets past the farmers market which was just setting up. One elderly woman wearing the traditional hoop earrings of Dubrovnik offered us samples of dried figs and candied orange peels. Other stalls were selling fresh produce and locally made travarica (a Dalmatian grappa flavored with herbs). At Pile Gate we entered the Franciscan monastery, home to the third oldest operating pharmacy in Europe. The museum is a rich collection of religious art, relics, votive jewelry and vestments as well as the original equipment from the old pharmacy: scales, mortars and pestles, ceramic jars of herbs and roots. In the new pharmacy face creams made from original recipes combining olive oil with essential oils of rose, lavender and rosemary are available along with modern pharmaceuticals.
We then had the option of climbing up the famous walls of Dubrovnik with our guides or exploring the city on our own. The view from the walls is breathtaking. To our right was the crystal clear water of the Adriatic, to the left the famous clay tile roofs of the Old Town. The mixture of old and new tiles bears witness to the effects of the siege in 1991. In between bomb raids, residents would run out into the street and collect the old tiles so that they could be used in the reconstruction of the city. Our vantage point from the walls allowed us glimpses into the residents’ backyards, with gardens and laundry, as well as the local school playground. Above Ploce Gate we had the option of completing the circuit or going back down into the Old Town for free time before taking the tenders back to the ship for lunch and a presentation on the Venetian Empire by Robyn Woodward.
At 6:00 we returned to the Dominican Convent courtyard for a private klapa concert (traditional Dalmatian male singing) by the talented amateur group “Ostrov Konavle.” We were transported back in time as we listened to the medieval songs and ballads and watched the changing light on the bell tower. Even the birds felt compelled to join in at the end. After the concert we had more choices: return to the ship to have dinner on board with the “klapa boys” or stay in town for dinner. After dinner, photographer Sharon Grainger held a night photography workshop in the beautifully illuminated Old Town.
