Walking the Walls - Dubrovnik's Treasure

Dubrovnik's medieval walls - the view of Fort Lovirjenac from the Fort Bokar tower

Wednesday, July 6 - Trip Day 7

Our guide from our Kosovo trip, Boris, had warned us about walking the old town walls on a hot summer day. "You'll bake, as all the limestone will be reflecting heat and light at you."  I was a little hesitant, but didn't want to miss the experience.  Fortunately, we were early enough - mid morning - that is was neither too crowded nor too hot.

We climbed the steps at the Pile Gate on the east of the city to begin our walk.  The walls are 1940 meters long and up to 25 meters high.  No building was to be built that would be taller than the walls.  They were constructed between the 13th and 17th centuries. At one time, a regulation was made to require every person coming to Ragusa (Dubrovnik) to carry a stone to place on the wall.

At the top of the steps by the Pile gate 

The walkway is wide with good railings where needed, although I felt a little vertiginous in places

Looking west down the Stradun

The Big Onofrio Fountain

Ivana calls this spot the mirror of Dubrovnik.  St. Francis Monastery with bell tower on the left

The greatest danger of invasion came from land, so the walls on the north side are thicker (4-6 meters) compared to the sea side (1-3 meters).  There are four great city forts:  the Minceta on the north, the Revelin fortress on the north-east, the fortress of St. John on the south-east near the old port, and the round sea tower, the Bokar.

Many scenes of King's Landing and Blackwater Bay from the HBO Game of Throne's series were filmed here in Dubrovnik.  It was interesting to hear people yelling along the walls when they recognized different scenes from the series.

Lovrijenac Fortress on the hill and the Bokar in the foreground on the left

We could be extras in GOT, do you think?

Lovely day for a parasol...

Lovrijenac Fortress atop the rock outcropping on the left,  the rounded Bokar tower on the right

The Lovrijenac Fortress is outside Ragusa's old city walls. The story is that this fort was built in three months in the 11th century.  It was built because diplomatic Ragusan spies reported that the Venetians were on their way with vessels loaded with stone to built their own fortress on this rock, to yolk Ragusa to the Venetian republic.  When they arrived with ships full of building materials, the Venetians found they had lost the race to build the fort. The church of St. Lovro (St. Lawrence) already existed on this 37 meter high rock outcropping, so they named the fort after St. Lawrence (Lovrijenac).

 

The walls and walkways are thinner on the sea side

Looking up to Mount Srd, across the city.  New orange tiles replace roofs damaged by shelling during the Homeland War in 1991

To the west, our Sea Cloud anchors near Lokrum Island

Checking out the guard tower

Long and low on the left, the Lazaretto, where arriving seamen were quarantined for 40 days

Dubrovnik - Return to the Pearl of the Adriatic

 

Dubrovnik's Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary

Wednesday, July 6 - Trip Day 7

Our gentle overnight motoring in the Sea Cloud has brought us back to our next port - Dubrovnik.  We awoke already anchored in the harbor right between the old town and the location of our hotel from a few nights ago.

We had an early start to our day, as we would be walking Dubrovnik's medieval walls and it promised to be another scorcher.  Leaving on the tender by 8:30 would hopefully allow us to beat the heat.

Our tenders tied up at Old Port and we entered the old town through the old port gate to meet our Dubrovnik guide, Ivana, in front of the Cathedral.  It was great to have a guided visit of the town, as we had known this was planned and hadn't yet seen most of the sights.

Dubrovnik's Old Port and location of our tender docking

Entering the old town through the port gate, with a view of the cathedral

Rebuilt after the 1667 earthquake, this cathedral is at least the third basilica on this site

Our guide, Ivana, is young and hip and very funny.  She endeared herself to me when we passed an ice cream shop and, in the middle of her historic commentary, she remarked, "Gelato is life!"

The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary is built on the site of earlier basilica -starting from at least the 7th century.  A great Romanesque cathedral was built in the 12th century with money contributed by England's Richard the Lionhearted, who survived a storm with a landing on Lokrum island returning home for the Third Crusade.  The catastrophic earthquake of 1667 destroyed that cathedral, hence the current one's Baroque architectural style.

We walked north along a wide street named Pred Dvorom, which was flanked by a number of interesting structures - the Rector's Palace, the City Hall and Marin Drzic Theater, the Small Onofrio Fountain, the Sponza Palace and the Bell Tower.  On the left was St. Blaise Church and Orlando's Column.

The Rector's Palace on Pred Dvorom

Late Gothic style, the Rector's Palace was rebuilt after gunpower accidents and earthquakes

The carved capitals of the Rector's Palace gothic arches

At the end of Pred Dvorom street, the Sponza Palace and the Bell Tower

Marin Drzic and his shiny nose smiles on the interesting interview occurring in his shadow

Busy girls gathered at the Small Onofrio's Fountain

The Bell Tower 

The Sponza Palace, which houses the city's historic archives

St. Blaise Church  and the dome of the Cathedral on the left

We were at the east end of the Placa - or Stradun, as it is called by the Croatians.  This large, wide street divides the old town in two.  All the buildings along the Stradun were rebuilt after the 1667 earthquake, so they have a pleasing uniformity of height, design and color.  The street's limestone pavers are polished to a mirrored shine from so many steps taken along its path.

Before we headed west on the Stradun, to the Pila Gate and the place we would begin our city wall walk, we turned into some of the side streets near St. Blaise.  We walked along Od Puca and other streets - not as wide as the Stradun, but shadier in the heat of the morning sun.

Walking in the shade on streets parallel to the Stradun

A map showing the damage to Dubrovnik in 1991 during their Homeland War

It takes many steps to polish this limestone over the centuries

Doesn't this sound like a great idea on such a hot day?  Maybe for lunch?

Art Space

Walking on the Stradun and approaching the Franciscan Monastary and the Pila Gate

Serene plaza with the Onofrio Fountain, Church of Our Savior and the Franciscan Monastery

Filling up water bottles at the (Big) Onofrio Fountain (We did too!)

Moreska - the Korculan Sword Dance to Rescue a Damsel

The Revelin Tower - entrance into the city walls of Korcula's old town

Tuesday, July 5 - Trip Day 6


Our formal tour of medieval Korcula was completed by about 5 PM and we stopped near the Revelin Tower for a break with Fanta and ice cream.  We had one more surprise for this very full day.  We were going to watch a folkloric performance of the Moreska - a traditional sword dance performced in Korcula for centuries.

As we had about half an hour before the performance started, I returned to the old town through the main entrance gate - the Revelin Tower - to buy some souvenirs.  Michael was thrilled when I returned with some enameled Christmas decorations, a guide book and a deck of playing cards.

The Revelin gate, adorned with the symbol of the Venetian Republic, was built in the 13th century.  The stone stairway was added in 1868, to replace an older version.  Prior, there was a moat around the city walls on the land side, with a drawbridge to reach the Revelin Tower.

Once surrounded by a moat, these stairs were added in 1868

The lion of St. Mark, symbol of Venice, guards the tower gate

Pretty courtyard to the west of the Revelin Tower - through here to our Moreska performance

View from the top of the Revelin Tower gate

Courtyard adjacent to the Revelin Tower and gate, where the Moreska performance occurred

Korcula's Moreska - a ritual battle in the form of a sword dance

The Moreska is a ritualized and stylized fight between two armies, staged as a dance of sword combat.  Performed throughout the Mediterranean in Renaissance times, it is documented in Korcula as early as the 17th century.  Accompanied by live music, this Korculan troop has traveled across Europe showcasing their performances.

The plot pits the White King vs the Black King, in a contest to win the Muslim maiden that the Black King has kidnapped from the White King.  Osman wins over Moro in the end, and frees Bula, who eagerly returns to his waiting arms.

Osman (White King in red) and Moro (Black King) in front of their armies

Bula (damsel) tried to stop the fighting between Osman and Moro

It was fun to watch, especially the sword dancing - even if terribly stereotyped, from religious, gender and racial perspectives.  Disney should make a movie, don't you think?  (Ironic kidding, of course)

Small Governor's Tower and oleander

Outside the western city walls

The large Governor's Tower - now we've made the full circumference and are back at the port

Sea Clouds tender ready to bring us back to our ship - a little too rough for the Zodiacs

View of Korcula's St. Nicholas Monastery

The tender delivers us back to the gangway and up to our  awaiting dinner

Dinner on the ship tonight was on the lido deck, as fresco.  It was still very warm and Michael asked if we might eat our dinner in the dining room, which is air conditioned.  They kindly accommodated our request, and it was a nice respite from the heat of the afternoon.

We relaxed after dinner on deck and watched the sun dip behind the hills of the Peljesac peninsula.  We were heading out, under motor at midnight and tomorrow would return to Dubrovnik for a tour of the old town.

Michael's reading Richard Holbrooke's book on the Balkan War negotiations at Camp David

Pastel colors at dusk after sunset

The last tender trip returns from Korcula - its night lights shining on the horizon

And off we go - motoring to Dubrovnik overnight while we sleep peacefully