June 2015: my CBYX program year was on pause for two weeks, one of my best (American) friends had made the trek out to Europe to visit me, and all of Europe was our oyster - it was time for the trip of a lifetime!
First on our itinerary was Dubrovnik, Croatia, whose magnificent Old Town features a fairy-tale like cluster of cobbled back lanes and centuries-old houses, churches, and palaces, all surrounded by imposing, well-preserved medieval fortifications.
Centuries ago, Dubrovnik was a world capital of maritime trading that rivaled Venice in power and wealth. It was a fiercely independent republic that so revered the concept of libertas - liberty - that it was the first foreign state in 1776 to recognize a little new republic called the United States of America.
Over the last 200 years, the city has become an extraordinarily popular travel destination, and it's not hard to understand why. Lord Byron was said to have labeled it "the Pearl of the Adriatic" after he visited. These days, two million people follow his footsteps every year by touring the charming Old Town, which was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. I'm thinking that at least 1.75 million of those people are Game of Thrones fans vying to see the real-life filming locations for King's Landing, which are scattered throughout the city.
As you'll see in the photos below, the city's walled medieval center has been remarkably well-preserved. That's in spite of a 1667 earthquake that destroyed a large portion of the city. Only a few palaces and the city's walls survived that disaster, and everything else had to be rebuilt. Thus while the city was most prosperous during medieval times, much of the architecture in the Old Town has a modest Baroque style.
A multi-million-dollar reconstruction effort also took place after two-thirds of the old city's buildings were damaged by artillery fire from the battles that accompanied Croatia's bid for independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The rebuilding efforts were completed only with the use of original, historically accurate techniques and materials.
It's time to see some pictures. After getting a look at the city's coastal charm and architectural wonders, you're going to want to visit. So start converting your dollars to kunas and take a look below at what awaits you!
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| A sneak peek of the Old Town |
We arrived right at sundown and settled into our apartment. Despite not knowing where the nearest grocery store was or having any Croatian kronas whatsoever on hand, somehow two of my travel buddies immediately went on a brief shopping trip and returned with wine. When there's a will, there's a way, I suppose.
The next day, it was time to get sight-seeing after an early and hearty breakfast. As I like saying, Dubrovnik's sights weren't going to see themselves.
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| A view of the Port of Dubrovnik from our AirBnB |
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| The ocean is never far away in Dubrovnik |
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| It was a bit of a trek to get up the hill to our place |
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| We were all smiles, but this was before the climb |
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| Stairs, stairs, and more stairs on the way to our apartment |
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| Our elderly Croatian AirBnB host was amazingly kind. She gave us travel tips, helped us order food for the apartment, AND she had multiple turtles just roaming around her front yard! Seriously, this lady couldn't be any cooler |
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| Heading towards the city, we got our first glimpse of a medieval landmark - Fort Lovrijenac (Fort Lawrence). Outfitted with 10 cannons and walls up to nearly 40 feet thick, its perch on a 120-foot tall rock provided it with a perfectly suited location to fend off incursions by both land and sea (enabling soldiers to keep those pesky Venetians at bay - literally) |
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| Pile Gate, the entrance to Old Town |
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| So far, I'm a fan of Croatia! |
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| Ah, the Old Town, every tourist's destination. As it is the single most-visited site in Croatia, prices are fairly high for Croatian standards and most of the local residents have moved out to the suburbs in order to rededicate their Old Town properties to hosting tourists. By the way, that little church in the center background is called the Church of St. Savior and was built to thank god after Dubrovnik made it through a 1520 earthquake. God must have been pretty happy with it, because the church was one of the only buildings in the city to survive the powerful 1667 quake I mentioned earlier |
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| The famous central promenade, the Stradun. Hordes of tourists surrounded us here, but the crowds get more manageable as you move off to side streets |
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| I promised cobbled back alleys. Here's one! |
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| Back on the Stradun, the heart of the Old Town |
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| The CBYX contingent of the travel crew |
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| The complete squad |
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| Preservation of the Old Town's medieval and Baroque architecture is so tightly controlled that the shutters on this street are required to always be painted the exact same shade of green |
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| The big fancy tower belongs to an old Franciscan Monastery. The monastery also hosts the world's third-oldest pharmacy (founded in 1317) |
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Luža Square. The Old Town is wonderfully car-free
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A close-up look of the town's Bell Tower. It was built in 1444 but had to be rebuilt once it started leaning in the 1920s. They stuck to the original design, but I think they could have reformatted the clock to make it easier to read - it sports an octopus with 12 tentacles (which makes him more of a duodecopus, am I right?), only one of which tells you the time. Thankfully, they've added a digital readout (those two black rectangles towards the bottom). And for those of you who are into astronomy or just the occult, the golden sphere beneath the clock face shows the current phase of the moon
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| Sponza Palace, built in 1522. Most of the structures in Old Town Dubrovnik looked this fanciful before that powerful 1667 earthquake flattened them. Thankfully, this Gothic-Renaissance landmark survived |
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| This is another building that survived the 1667 earthquake, as evidenced by its ornate Gothic-Renaissance arches. It's the Rector's Palace, which back in the Middle Ages was home to the leaders of Dubrovnik. Once a rector was elected by the nobility, he was only allowed to serve one month before they voted for a new one. Talk about a lame duck. Oh, and during that month-long term, a rector couldn't even leave the palace unless it was for official business |
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| The Old Port |
Having successfully seen the highlights of Old Town from sea level, we decided we were ready for a whole new and much higher vantage point - Mount Srd (pronounced "surge"). After taking a cable car up to the fortress located on the mountain's summit, we had breathtaking panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and all of Old Town.
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| Looking south towards Montenegro (our next destination) |
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| Old Town Dubrovnik and the island of Lokrum, which we later visited |
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| Lokrum |
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| The entire Old Town sprawled out beneath us |
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| Looking north towards Korčula, which we also later visited |
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| What goes up must come down - we descended from our sky-high perch to continue our day |
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| The Old Port and St. John's Fortress |
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| The Old Port again, with the Dominican Monastery's tower figuring prominently on the right |
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| The Rector's Palace |
We had thoroughly roamed the Old Town's limestone streets, but our most exciting Dubrovnik experience was yet to come! Dubrovnik's single best attraction is the stroll along its mile-long medieval city walls, and that's exactly where we headed next. These 15th-century walls were very effective - they were never breached by a hostile army. Today, they're very effective at drawing tourists like me!
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| That giant round structure is Big Onofrio's Fountain. Back in the 15th century, a system of aqueducts was built to carry in fresh water to the city from a spring over 7 miles away and into fountains like this one. Modern-day Dubrovnik still uses the same spring as both its drinking water source and the water source for all fountains. Thus, tourists are encouraged to fill up their water bottles using the water cascading out of any of the fountains in the old city - the water quality is top-notch |
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| The first of many captivating views we'd get from atop the walls |
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| A look at the Stradun from above. A very long time ago (7th to 11th centuries) this road used to be a canal, and half of the modern-day Old Town Dubrovnik was an island |
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| This side of town was historically more wealthy, so the houses are larger and more spread apart. You'll see that some homes on the right appear to still be damaged from the 1667 quake. But those lots were intentionally left empty and now serve as little gardens |
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| Fort Lawrence, with Bokar Fortress in the foreground on the bottom left. Its walls are rounded so cannonballs would bounce off harmlessly |
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| A great look at Fort Lawrence. It's so old that no one is really sure when it was built, but that probably happened sometime between 1018 and 1301. Remember how Dubrovnik loves "libertas" and independence? There's an inscription above the entrance of Fort Lawrence, and it reads: "NON BENE PRO TOTO LIBERTAS VENDITUR AURO" - Freedom is not sold for all the gold in the world |
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| The Old Port of Dubrovnik. The building with three arches was the Arsenal, where ships were built during the time of the Dubrovnik Republic. The arches were originally solid brick walls, which were meant to keep prying eyes from seeing the secrets of the renowned Dubrovnik shipbuilders. Once the ship was ready to go, the brick wall facing the sea was demolished and the ship was launched |
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| St. John's Fortress, which has guarded the Old Port from the Venetians ever since it was built in the 15th century |
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| Residents huddled in the thick walls for protection as recently as the 1990s, during some Yugoslavian shelling |
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| The city's Dominican Monastery |
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| I was going crazy with my camera - anywhere you look, there's a fantastic new view of the city below |
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| Above the Dominican Monastery, built in the 14th century |
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| The further we went, the more incredible the views became |
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| Walking along the walls gives you a grand view of a sea of orange roof tiles. Many of the roofs had to be completely replaced after damage sustained during the artillery fire in the 1990s, but they still look old-timey since they were rebuilt with the exact same materials and methods as the original roofs |
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| Looking out from atop the 82-foot-tall Minčeta Tower, the highest point in the walls. According to the Internet, people say you haven't truly been to Dubrovnik until you experience this view |
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| All of the views are so captivating up here |
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| A peek into the Franciscan Monastery's cloister |
Whew, that was a lot of walking and picture-taking. Time to unwind! We hit one of the city's many beaches before turning in for the night.
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| Lapad Beach |
We had made good progress, but Dubrovnik has more than just one day of sights to offer. The rest would have to wait until day two!
