Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik

(George Bernard Shaw)

Dubrovnik is an old settlement that has seen many masters and has assimilated many different nationalities. The Croat origin of the name comes from word dub or oak which is a common tree in nearby lands. In the Roman times the nearby Epidaurum (Cavtat) was a more important town. Before the arrival of the Slavs the town was under the Byzantine empire sphere of influence. The remnants of a Byzantine church have been uncovered in 1980s. At that time the southern part has been an island separated with a marshy channel in place of the present day Stradun or Placa. After the invasion of Avars in the 7th century and the destruction of Epidarium, its fleeing inhabitants have founded a new town called Ragusium (Ragusa), which became modern day Dubrovnik. The Byzantine Emperor still had maintained the authority over the town after the Avars were defeated by the Croats at the end of the 7th century. Over the time the town become Slavicized, and has fell under the local Croatian rule with the influx of the surrounding Croatian population.


Around 878 Dubrovnik started paying a tribute to Croatian and Slavonic rules as the rest of the Dalmatian towns, with the difference that Dubrovnik continued this practice for more than 900 years, till 1806 when it has lost its independence after being conquered by Napoleon troupes. According to the legend, the inhabitants of Dubrovnik were able to fend the fend off the Venetians with a help of Dubrovnik patron St Blaise appearance to priest Stoico in 972.


With the greater influence of the Venetian Republic around 1000 Dubrovnik found itself under the alternating suzerainty of Venice and Byzantium, but always keeping the internal autonomy. The alliance with Normans helped secure access to markets in the central Mediterranean. At the same time Dubrovnik made trade agreements with the inland Bosnian rulers. After the fall of Constantinople in 1204 the Venetians were able to put Dubrovnik under the Dodge suzerainty. It turned out that the close Venetian rule only has strengthen the locals and helped them model the city on the Italian city states. The period between twelfth to fifteenth century saw Dubrovnik expansion north to peninsula Peljesac and south all the way to Kotor bay. It was the time of greatest town prosperity. When the Venetians were expelled from the eastern Adriatic, Dubrovnik pledged the alliance to Hungarian kings promising to pay 500 ducats tribute per year. It was at that time that the Croatian language replaced Latin as the official language. The full prosperity came with the trade agreements with the Turkish Sultans, especially after the Turks conquest of Hungary. The free trade throughout the Ottoman Empire was secured with a 12,500 ducats tribute. At that time Dubrovnik´s merchant fleet was the third largest in the world.


Only when the trade with Americas came in full swing in the late sixteenth century Dubrovnik economic power started to wane. As the Ottoman Empire was stopped after the defeat under the Wienna gates in 1683 and its fortunes have reversed, Dubrovnik once again had to content with the threatening Venice a look elsewhere for new alliances. It was at that time that Dubrovnik has accepted Austrian sovereignity. That turned out to be the last tribute till 1806 when Dubrovnik came at the front of the France and Russia confrontation. The French moved to Dalmatia to be closer to Turkey boundary after defeating the Austrians in Austerlitz, 1805, expecting her to collapse soon, and hoping to be able to claim portion of its occupied territories. After the Russians were given Boka Kotorska by marquis Ghislieri instead to the French, General Lauriston went to a conquest to get it back. Dubrovnik Republic provided him and the army a safe passage. They even made a reception for the French commanders, not expecting them to occupy the Republic which has formally lost its independence on May 25, 1806. The French rule was short lived after their defeat in Russia 1812 and near Leipzig in 1823. The Austrians moved to Dalmatia before even getting the territory as agreed during Vienna Congress, 1814-15. From that time on Dubrovnik became tied to the fate of Dalmatia and later to Croatia after the collapse of Austria after the WWI. Dubrovnik is one of the largest towns in Croatia Republic these days, better known as the "Perl of the Mediterranean." During the 1991 Croatian independence war the old town has exhibited substantial damage.

In the following pages the visitor can follow the city walls as we did one late afternoon in July of 2003. More about Dubrovnik could be found on the adjoining Dubrovnik culture pages.