Dubrovnik Old Town

Friday - November 1, 2019

Today we went to Dubrovnik Old Town. The town was first established in the late 1200’s and is surrounded by a fortification wall that is 6,400 feet in length  and 82 feet tall in places.

The stone curtain surrounding the old city includes watch towers, bastions, castles, and fortresses. The entry gates have small moats with draw bridges.

Fort Bokar on the corner of the city wall.

Fort Lovrijenac sits just across the bay from the Northwest gate.

Fort Minceta on the Northern corner of the wall.

The Main Street is called Stradun. It originally was a canal much like those in Venice but was filled in after the great earthquake in 1667. The buildings were rebuilt after the earthquake to a uniform height with nearly identical facades and similar layouts.

St. Saviour Church just inside the Northwest entry gate.

Mount Srd & Konavle

Sunday - November 3, 2019

Today we were to take the cable car to the top of Mount Srd (sounds like bird with an S) but the wind was blowing so hard we had to take vans instead. Luckily we arrived before the rain and clouds obscured our view of the Dubrovnik Old Town. Situated atop the hill is Fort Imperial which was built in the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars to protect the city.

Today the Croatian War of Independence Museum of 1991 to 1995 is located in the fort. We had a guest speaker that had lived in the Old Town during the war share her experiences. It was very informative.

For the afternoon we went to the rural area of Konavle. There we learned about the making of olive oil, wine, brandy, and curing of meats. The owner of the farm we visited was very entertaining. We were served a huge banquet meal, had some local music and a little dancing before heading back to town. I ate way too much food but had a great time.