Dubrovnik

‘Three countries in four days’

Dubrovnik with Lokrun in the background



Rocky coast in Dubrovnik

 

Well here we are again in Croatia, I’m like a man on an elastic band, four trips in the last two years. This time I’m doing the southern bit, that little strip of land that snakes south east down the Dalmatian coast and peters out into Montenegro, containing the jewel of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik is a must see, a wonderfully preserved medieval walled city that must be contender for most beautiful town in the Mediterranean, sitting as it does with its massive ramparts and terracotta roofs on the sparkling Adriatic. It is an ideal destination for a weekend city break. If scousers can nip down to Barcelona from John Lennon Airport for an evening meal and come back the same night, then a Friday to Sunday in Dubrovnik is a ‘can do.’ Monarch airline is worth considering. They were doing about the cheapest tickets for when I wanted to fly out on a Tuesday and back on a Saturday for about £221.

Dubrovnik has an illustrious history as a great trading republic, once called Ragusa and a prestigious rival to the Venetian republic. Surviving on trade, it also has a history of liberal politics and a passion for freedom. It even escaped the yoke of the Ottoman Empire with whom it was able to do a deal by paying tribute to the Turks. In 1667 there was a bad earthquake that razed most of the buildings to the ground, so much of what you see is the medieval new build. The only time it ever fell was when Napoleon’s army was invited in, as long as it respected the city’s independence. In more recent history it was bombed by the Yugoslav army quite badly for no apparent strategic reason, guaranteed not to make them popular with the rest of the world! At various points around the city are displays showing how much damage afflicted Dubrovnik, with a map of where the shells fell.





Water fountain at Pile Gate

 

Stride the bridge over the moat and through Pile Gate, and you are nearly at the beginning of Stradun, the spiritual centre of the city. Just inside the gate is also a hub for the city, with the ancient Onofrio Fountain, a circular affair which was part of the original water supply system. It still pumps water through sixteen taps into a channel running round the outside of the structure where you can fill your bottle. On the left is the Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor and the Old Pharmacy. Here you can wander the cloisters with its colourful old frescoes, then dip into the museum bit with its artefacts and manuscripts. Perhaps the most interesting part is a mock up of the old pharmacy where I was told off for taking photos! There is actually a working pharmacy at the point where you enter the complex, in fact the oldest working pharmacy in Europe. Also on the left of the street here is the Church of St Saviour, built about 1520 as a symbol of thanks by survivors after a bad earthquake. It is now used for concerts and suchlike.



Franciscan monastery frescoes

Dubrovnik church

 

The Stradun, the main walking thoroughfare, scythes through the centre of the city in a dead straight line from Pile Gate in the west to Ploce Gate and the harbour in the east. Above the main gates are reliefs of St Blaise, protector of the city. At night Stradun is like Darth Vader’s lightsaber, straight as a rod, dazzling amongst the surrounding settlement, jammed with promenaders and fed by ravine like alleyways that cascade down steep stone stairways from the north and trickle in from the south on the flat. Head down the Stradun and turn right at the bottom to face another mix of classy buildings. On the left a little further up is the impressive Rector’s Palace which also has the Cultural Historical Museum. On the right and marking the end of Stradun is St Blaise Church which is named after the saint protector of Dubrovnik. The present church was built in 1717 in Baroque style, and a statue of the saint stands above the church entrance holding a scale model of the old town.



There he is! St Blaise above Pile Gate

 

Here at the end of Stradun the street also opens out into a square which centres on Orlando’s column in front of the church of St Blaise. There is a carving of Orlando, nephew of Charlemagne. An interesting aside is that Orlando’s right forearm was the standard for the unit of measurement for trading fabric – the Ragusan cubit. Over to the side is Onofrio’s small fountain, as opposed to Onofrio’s big fountain at the other end of Stradun! This area was once the marketplace and is still the political centre of Dubrovnik.

If you have turned right at the end of Stradun and are heading south you hit a set of stairs up to a plaza on which stands the cathedral, built between 1672 and 1713 by Italian architects. I popped in at night when there were very few people in there. The treasures within include reliquairies of St Blaise, with golden caskets supposedly containing the saints head and foot. From the plaza are great views down the series of stone stairways into the bowels of the city, especially evocative in the evening when the streets teem with tourists, and restaurant tables everywhere spill into the streets.

You have to do the city walls walk, all the way round for 70kn, a two kilometre stretch up and down with a treasure chest of great perspectives, whether it’s across the city skyline, picking out the monastery, cathedral and great churches, or another view of the massive walls falling into the rocky shores of the Adriatic and out to the island of Lokrum. For another 50 kn you can get an audio guide to accompany you around.



Lokrum from the city walls
 

The walls are seriously huge all the way round, jumbo ramparts that must have provided a formidable barrier to anyone who dared to invade, particularly the Ottoman Empire which lay just a few kilometres inland. They were built between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. The perfectly preserved walls encircle the city in an impregnable envelope and provide some great camera scopes. One of the highlights is Minceta Fort north of Pile Gate, one of the highest points on the wall with its stylised battlements. It’s a favourite and crowded spot for photographers. Meanwhile at the eastern end of the walls you can nip into the Maritime Museum on the way round. In the summer heat it’s quite a stroll! So take plenty of water, although there is at least one water seller and later a cafe on the way round.



View over Dubrovnik

 

Lovrijenac Fort is part of the city defences but is adrift of the main walls to the west and sits on a headland. It’s well worth a visit and don’t forget is included in the walls ticket, although be ready for a steep (short!) climb up to the main gate. It was once used as a prison but now is surrounded by parkland.




Lovrijenac Fort

View on the walls walk

 

The Dominican monastery stands at the north east corner of the city but is also a worthy visit. A 20 kuna entrance fee gives you access to a calm gothic and renaissance cloister with a luxuriant carpet of grass in the middle. Side doors take you through to exhibitions of icons, old Masters, and various cases of jewellery and religious artefacts such as reliquaries, chalices and flagons. Through another door is the large church auditorium, quite an uplifting building as it is decorated in white and lacks the overdone, dark and rather depressing trappings of many European Catholic churches. An atmosphere of light is enhanced by brightly colourful and modern paintings on a religious theme. But what capped the visit were a group of white robed monks and assorted lay people practising the singing of ‘Amazing Grace,’ repeating the verses with brief interludes for some tweaking. It was life enhancing to hear a Roman Catholic Order singing such a massive theme tune of Protestant Christianity. If you visit one church in Dubrovnik this is the one I would go to.

 Pile at the western end of the city is your transportation hub, just outside Pile Gate. Here you can catch buses and taxis to the main bus station (a few minutes journey) for long distance buses and to local destinations, as well as the port where you get seriously big boats – Dubrovnik is a big cruise destination. It is a non-stop centre of activity with buses flowing through by the minute true to Croatia’s excellent bus service. It is surrounded by shops, kiosks and eating places. It’s right on the seafront so you can jump off the bus and be on the beach within minutes.

Dubrovnik has various beaches in the vicinity. You can go to Lapad just to the west of the old town, whilst to the east is Banja Beach. The latter is commercialised with music playing, deckchairs and umbrellas, a bar and sports areas for volleyball, etc. So if you’re a babe or a hunk this is perhaps where you would go! Another alternative is to walk down to the water from Pile just outside the city walls where there are very small stretches of beach and sunbathing areas around Lovrijenac Fort, or go a little further around the headland to find a lovely stretch of rocky coast with sunbathing platforms and a little cafe. This is where I ended up, an unhindered spot for late afternoon sun and where you are likely to find the locals. Unfortunately I had to leave promptly at 4pm to catch the bus to the airport.



Dubrovnik Harbour

The harbour on the east end of the city is like the mouth of a giant sea monster where people pour out of the city onto the quay. Here you can trace the outside of the walls for some distance around to the south, and dodge the stray cats that pop up everywhere. From here also you can catch the boat to Lokrum, a heavily wooded island and Nature Reserve a mere fifteen minutes away which transfers you out of the incessant hubbub into peace and quiet. Here you can climb the hill to the highest point on the island where an old French fort (1806) gives you great 360 degrees views across to the city and down the coast. Peacocks wander all over the place, there is a monastery (founded in 11^th century), botanical gardens, a pool, and cafe/restaurant. When you get off at the jetty, if you fancy bathing in the buff there is an FKK beach specially set aside for nudists and discreetly placed away from prying eyes. I had no wish to pursue this and instead crossed the narrow island to find a sunbathing spot on a rocky shoreline fully exposed to the afternoon sun in the west. The gentle sea could be entered by a strategically placed set of metal steps. There are numerous beaches around the island and Lokrum is one of the best spots for a swim.




Harbour with Lokrum island in the background

You can get a Dubrovnik Card valid for 1, 3 or 7 days (130, 180, 220kn) which allow entrance to museums, galleries and the City Walls, up to 20 rides on public transport, with a free guide and various discounts (children under 12 free if parents have Card). There are numerous museums and churches which I did not have time to see, but I did see from the outside the old synagogue (1352), the second oldest in Europe after Prague, on Zudioska, one of the steep alleyways tumbling down to the Stradun. It has a museum and was once part of the Jewish ghetto. The Jews settled here at the end of the fifteenth century after leaving Spain and Portugal, and enjoyed relative wealth and freedom despite some restrictions. Meanwhile on Od Puca south of the Stradun is the Serbian Othodox Church (quite big and built 1865-1877) and Museum of Icons which I just observed from the outside. I was not really in the mood to look at lots of old icons.




Great view of Dubrovnik

 

 I stayed in Bosnia-Herzegovina, just over the border from Croatia and about 8km from Dubrovnik. High in the coastal hills overlooking the Adriatic is the village of Ivanice where Katrina rents out an apartment on Airbnb. The apartment is part of a building inhabited by the family, mother, father and grandmother. Up some stairs and on the first floor, the rental apartment is virtually self contained and ideal for a couple or family. There are great views out over the village and to the Adriatic. To get to Dubrovnik you have to cross the border, which means negotiating both the Bosnian and Croatian border posts, so you must carry your passport at all times. With Kristina driving and being a local it was a pretty easy crossing. I read somewhere that even within Croatia you are supposed to carry your passport but I have never been asked to produce it within the borders.

My whole experience with airbnb was positive. I stumbled upon the company looking for a room in the Dubrovnik area on the internet. Airbnb is a worldwide venture which provides private households with an opportunity to rent out their property to tourists and make a little extra cash. It is designed to be a safe value for money alternative to staying in a hotel. The web experience is well designed to allow a client to search for a room, review various alternatives which advertise full details together with photographs, and then communicate their preferences. The company provides software to swiftly communicate with possible renters in security and safety. Once a final decision has been made payment can be arranged by credit card. I was impressed with the watertight process and quick communication with my choice. Being the first time I had used this service one was a little apprehensive, but I was much reassured by an article in the Monarch Airline in-flight magazine on this very company.

 

Some prices for this late summer, Croatia

 Bus ticket into Dubrovnik: 15 kn
Bus ticket Dubrovnik to Gornji Brgat: 15kn
Lasagne, salad and fanta: 141 kn
A spinach pie and a lemon fanta: 28kn

Supermarket apple, banana, small water, small bread, portion of cheese and tomato: 30.79kn
Supermarket water: 10kn
Large icecream: 16 kn
Coffee at Pile Gate: 15 kn

Water at airport: 20kn (take note!)
Baggage charge at main Dubrovnik bus station 11.15 - 16.30: 12.50kn

 Some bus times, September 2012:

Pile to Bosanka: 13.35, 14.45, 16.30, 18.30, 19.30, 20.30, 21.30

Dubrovnik to Herceg Novi, Kotor, Budva 10.00

Mostar: 8.00, 15.15

Arrival in Dubrovnik from Budva, Kotor, Herceg Novi: 17.00

From Mostar: 21.00

Adriana excursions near the main port do boat trips to the Dubrovnik Riviera, Cavtat, Lokrum, the islands Lopud, Sipan and Kolocep (Elafiti islands -full day tour with fish picnic).