Why go? On the ground floor, either side of a courtyard, are the prison and courtrooms of the Ragusa Republic, and a glittering display of medieval church art. Thereafter Florentine Michelozzo Michelozzi was responsible for the loggia façade. The first, by Onofrio della Cava of fountain fame, was in Venetian-Gothic style, visible in the window design once you ascend the grand staircase to the Rector's living quarters. What is it? The most historic monument in Dubrovnik, the Rector's Palace was rebuilt twice. Much of the exhibition is interactive in the sense that you can sit on original couches, leaf through books, or activate sound and visuals using your smartphone.ĭon't miss: There’s a “darkroom” that covers the regime’s attitude to dissent, including docu-clips of Goli otok, the island where pro-Soviet communists were imprisoned and tortured after President Tito’s break with Stalin in 1948. Elsewhere, the display is rich in revealing detail: a wardrobe full of denim clothes, pop records, racy glamour magazines. Although the display kicks off with a hammer-and-sickle-spattered history of communism as an ideology, the accent is on the more colourful aspects of the communist rule, and its attempts to design a lifestyle that combined equality and order with consumerism and cultural freedom. Why go? A private project initiated by a group of local friends, it offers decent-sized dollops of historical chronology alongside an impressive haul of everyday artifacts. Dubrovnik's The Red History Museum offers a look into that period of Croatian history. What is it? Croatia was part of the communist-ruled Yugoslav federation from 1945 until 1991. Dubrovnik Walks is an agency offering walking tours of the City Walls run by locals. This is an elevated promenade and history lesson in one.ĭon't miss: A couple of cafés provide pit stops at the harbour end, where there's also an open terrace for that eye-popping backdrop, ideal for holiday snaps. You also get breathing space from the high-season masses below. Why go? It allows the newcomer to get their bearings and gain an appreciation of the scale of this intricate jewel, and the skill of those who designed and constructed it. Audio-guides in English are sold at the main entrance but most visitors are perfectly content with random vistas of red-tiled roofs or, better still, the panoramic blue of the Adriatic, interspersed with pristine white stones jutting into it down below from varying angles. You can set your own pace, take an hour or an afternoon. As you arrive in the old town through the Pile Gate, the main entrance and ticket office to the City Walls is right there. What is it? The easiest and most popular itinerary for visitors to Dubrovnik is the stroll around its fortifications. The last boats leave around 7 pm, depending on the time of year. Subsequent mishap befell the Habsburgs who turned Lokrum into their own summer pleasure zone - hence the peacocks and botanical gardens.ĭon't miss: After a leisurely stroll, you can take a dip in the warm, saltwater lake and drink a beer or cocktail at the Lacroma restaurant, that conveniently overlooks the jetty. Ancient superstition links back to the curse placed on Napoleon's troops by the Benedictine monks they removed. Why go? Although taxi boats disgorge tourists from Dubrovnik every half-hour - you can be drinking a beer in Dubrovnik 's main square and be here in 20 minutes - no-one may spend a night here. Dotted with diverse ruins and remnants - medieval, ecclesiastical, Napoleonic, Habsburg - it has long been given over to nature. Its verdant coastline beckons from the hotel windows of Ploče. What is it? An uninhabited isle on Dubrovnik 's doorstep, Lokrum is an unspoilt isle lush with pines, palms and cypress trees. All is free of traffic until you reach the bus-choked hub outside of the Pile Gate.ĭon't miss: The main square and crossing point of Luža, where you’ll find the landmark bell tower (a modern rebuild of the 1444 original) the 1418 Orlando’s Column standing tall in front of the Church of Saint Blaise the smaller of Onofrio’s fountains, and a statue by Ivan Meštrovi ć of "Dubrovnik's Shakespeare" playwright Marin Držić. Cats scatter in from the old harbour as a cacophony of tour guides give their spiels. You'll flit between the city's main gates of Pile and Ploče, cobbled streets dotted with charming boutiques and sea-to-table restaurants. The walls were built and rebuilt over the centuries as the descructive forces of nature and enemy armies required - today, they surround gleaming stone buildings and the 300-metre-long pedestrian street called Stradun. What is it? You’ll spend the bulk of your time within Dubrovnik's famed city walls, whose legacy dates back to the 9th century.
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