We had calm seas as we sailed at six knots on a starboard tack into the jewel-like harbor of Korcula. The wind was fresh and the sun bright overhead. The sails were up by 9:00 a.m. and we were breezing along at six knots. Imagine the wind alone was moving 2,500 tons of ship through the water at such speed. I sometimes wonder why in this age of ecological concern we do not harness the wind to move freight again across the seas.
At 9:30 Grace Fielder gave an informative talk on the myth of maps, designed to instill the spirit of skepticism in us. At 11:30 the ship’s boutique opened and when I peeked in it was bustling. We took sails in at noon. Shortly before 3:00 p.m. we docked in the old city, hard against the ancient city wall and began out short walking tour of this island paradise at 3:30.
Korcula is one of my very favorite Croatian places. It has all the charm and beauty of Hvar but without the bustle. Our guide led us into the old city and explained a most interesting architectural feature. The city is frequently buffeted by strong winds. The early planners knowing this laid out the streets in a herringbone pattern on a slight hill and thus the internal streets and homes, because they are slightly offset, are protected from harsh winds and strong sun. This is an ingenious plan borne from experience long before city planning was a discipline.
Korcula is a Venetian city, and the symbol of Venice, the winged lion is everywhere. It is also the home of the great explorer Marco Polo who may have left from here on his way to China in the 13th century. I looked with great admiration at his home trying to conjure up his spirit. It is astonishing to contemplate the boldness of his vision, leaving everything he knew to embark on a ferociously hard journey that would keep him away from home for years with no certain knowledge of precise directions and no map! He traveled by foot and the backs of animals.
We visited the Cathedral of St. Mark whose original Gothic façade has been redone in the Baroque style in the 16th century. Immediately above the entrance to the west on the façade was a wonderful carving of two lions, which represent St. Mark the gospel writer and are also the symbol of the Venetian state. Venetians believe that St. Mark visited Venice having been blown off course. St. Mark is the patron saint of Venice and hence by extension wherever Venice ruled. What caught my eye directly below the lions were nude statues of Adam and Eve. Although done in a rather naïf style they were arresting in their simplicity. The representation of nude human figures disappears from European art approximately 400 until 1200. The Cathedral sanctuary has one of the great paintings of ecclesiastical figures, depicting St. Mark in the center flanked by Saints Bartholomew and Jerome by the noted Renaissance master Tintoretto, done ca. 1550. In the adjoining building, the bishop’s palace, we saw some remarkable drawings attributed to Michelangelo and other greats of the Italian Renaissance.
We continued our walks through the narrow lanes of the city, some not wider than six feet and admired the many stone balconies and the occasional stone bridge connecting homes at the second or third story. The stone of the buildings is uniformly a soft honey-white limestone and the architecture of the entire city is deeply indebted to Venice, which controlled Korcula for 400 years. At 6:00 we walked to the city center where we were treated to a unique theatrical performance and dance called Moreska. The dance reenacts the seizure of a beautiful young princess by the Black Knights, who represent the Turks, and her rescue by the White Knights, the Croats, sometimes dressed in red. The dance has been ritually reenacted for the past half a millennium. The men danced furiously in great circles and fought spirited sword battles. On a number of occasions when they clashed sparks flew from the swords. And you know who got the girl–the forces of good!
On our way back to Sea Cloud we passed some beautiful jewelry shops and—unlike Odysseus who resisted the Siren’s call as he passed through the straights of Messina—many of us succumbed and did some shopping!
The hotel staff feted us this evening with another one of the great Sea Cloud dinners.
