A walk around the walls of Dubrovnik.
May 19, 2021 8:27:14 GMT
Post by onlyMark on May 19, 2021 8:27:14 GMT
We were lucky. We’d arranged to slip the four and a half hour drive to Dubrovnik quite some time ago, but on nearing the date, the weather forecast showed us it would be chucking it down with rain all the time. But on the day we went there for a wander, it was bright, warm sunshine.
On other piece of luck was the three star hotel we had booked decided not to be open so they changed us to a sister hotel that is a five star. For the same price obviously.
Fortified by a large breakfast we drove to just outside the city. The hotel had a buffet breakfast system but everything was behind screens, so you had to point to what you wanted and a server plated it for you then passed it to you through a small gap in the screen. Worked ok.
One other quick mention was the border crossing between Bosnia and Croatia.
It was convenient for us to cross via a smaller border post and when we were getting near and at the post, there was no other traffic around.
That worked against us in the way that the Bosnian border official was probably bored out of his brains, so decided he’d check in detail all of our paperwork, passports, car documents, driving licence, looked at the stamps in our passports, questioned us as to why, when, where etc etc, was unhappy I’d given him the shortened version of the car registration document and not the long form (which you keep at home usually), wanted info on the car insurance, mechanical test certificate (don’t have one he was told, the car is too new), questions why Mrs M doesn’t have my last name if we are married, why the car is in her name but me driving, her job and my job and even though I told him I’m retired he wanted my work permit.......... and so on.
Mrs M is telling me to stay calm, he’s just bored, which I think was true enough.
The Croatian official just stamped us and waved us on. The funny thing is, when we returned a couple of days later through the same border, the very same Bosnian official was on duty and did it all again with us.
But, being prepared with documents wins through when they are all in order, not like in some countries, such as India, when the official will tell you something like your visa is not in order as it has been forged when you know it’s a correctly issued one..........
Time for a photo (not mine) - don’t know why, but even though it looks a reasonable size, I had in my mind that it was bigger, at least the walled part anyway. God help you when it’s in the tourist season and the cruise ships have come in, plus the day trippers. Far right, at the end of the central street, was where we entered -
Around the 6th Century BC there was an ancient Greek colony about 15km away now called Cavtat (this is where our original hotel was going to be) but then called Epidaurum by the Romans in 228BC. Refugees fleeing from Slavic aggressions in the area moved along the coast and established a town called Ragusa.
Over the centuries the town became an important trading port.
Originally in two parts with a central channel, this was filled in the 12th Century.
At one time ruled by the Byzantine Empire, the Normans, the Venetians, was Independent for a while, the Ottomans, then you can blame the Portuguese who opened up other sea trade routes for spices rather than through the Mediterranean which began the decline of the port, in 1667 an earthquake levelled most of the buildings apart from the walls, in 1683 the Ottomans were defeated in a battle near present day Vienna by the Austrian army and in 1699 the Ottomans ceded all of their ‘holdings’ in most of their empire by Treaty, including Dubrovnik.
We come to May 1806 when Napoleon’s troops (under General Lauriston) entered the city by deception (he’d said he wanted just for rest and refreshments for his troops before moving on to another town called Kotor to invade) even though it wanted to remain neutral. But he took it over.
But, just seven years later after, when Napoleon failed to invade Russia and the desertion of French soldiers from the area, Austrian (and British) troops re-entered the city.
This led to the rule of the city by Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.
It is believed somewhere around the 15th century the name changed to Dubrovnik, but it is referred to in historical documents by both names for still many centuries.
Last thing - “Dubrovnik got its own Statute as early as 1272 and, among others, codified Roman practice and local customs. The Statute included the town planning and regulations of quarantine (hygienic reasons). The Republic of Dubrovnik was very inventive regarding laws and institutions that were developed very early:
• - medical service was introduced in 1301.
• - the first pharmacy (still working) was opened in 1317
• - a refuge for old people was opened in 1347
• - the first quarantine hospital (Lazarete) was opened in 1377
• - slave trading was abolished in 1418
• - the orphanage was opened in 1432
• - the water supply system (20 kilometres) was constructed in 1436”
On a practical note, cars are, rightly so, banned from inside the walls and parking nearby is a major problem. The best bet is a large underground car park up above in the hill to the rear. This though necessitates a long(ish) walk down and then up steps to it. But - there is a ticket you can buy in town that not only allows you to walk the walls all the way round, but also gives you access to numerous museums and places of interest, as well as local bus travel.
Wall access alone costs 200 HRK (Euro 26.63) but the multi-ticket if you want to do all the other stuff is 250 HRK (Euro 33.30).
We bought the multi one. None of it is cheap, nor are the other entrances if you just buy the wall ticket, nor is the car parking by the way, that cost us 24 Euros for a good part of the day.
The walls can be accessed to the west or east, but once you are up there, you can only come back down in those two places. The rest are blocked off.
Enough talk, many photos. I’ll start them off. View from the hotel balcony -
Approaching the city from the west -
Entering -
We are now coming in from the red sticker part on the left -
Either a well disguised security camera or a flying rat as some know them -
Last part to get in -
Now inside and at the start of the central street, the one that originally was a channel between the two sides but filled in. In the first photo, just to the right, is a tourist type office where you can buy either a wall ticket or the multi-ticket -
Looking back to where we just entered. Just to the right corner of the photo is the access to the walls, between the wall and the first building. You can buy just the wall ticket here from the man “guarding” the entrance who I could swear, from his accent, was Icelandic -
Good drinking water and I’d advise if you do this when it is warm weather, never mind hot, to fill up your water bottle -
And so we ascend -
On other piece of luck was the three star hotel we had booked decided not to be open so they changed us to a sister hotel that is a five star. For the same price obviously.
Fortified by a large breakfast we drove to just outside the city. The hotel had a buffet breakfast system but everything was behind screens, so you had to point to what you wanted and a server plated it for you then passed it to you through a small gap in the screen. Worked ok.
One other quick mention was the border crossing between Bosnia and Croatia.
It was convenient for us to cross via a smaller border post and when we were getting near and at the post, there was no other traffic around.
That worked against us in the way that the Bosnian border official was probably bored out of his brains, so decided he’d check in detail all of our paperwork, passports, car documents, driving licence, looked at the stamps in our passports, questioned us as to why, when, where etc etc, was unhappy I’d given him the shortened version of the car registration document and not the long form (which you keep at home usually), wanted info on the car insurance, mechanical test certificate (don’t have one he was told, the car is too new), questions why Mrs M doesn’t have my last name if we are married, why the car is in her name but me driving, her job and my job and even though I told him I’m retired he wanted my work permit.......... and so on.
Mrs M is telling me to stay calm, he’s just bored, which I think was true enough.
The Croatian official just stamped us and waved us on. The funny thing is, when we returned a couple of days later through the same border, the very same Bosnian official was on duty and did it all again with us.
But, being prepared with documents wins through when they are all in order, not like in some countries, such as India, when the official will tell you something like your visa is not in order as it has been forged when you know it’s a correctly issued one..........
Time for a photo (not mine) - don’t know why, but even though it looks a reasonable size, I had in my mind that it was bigger, at least the walled part anyway. God help you when it’s in the tourist season and the cruise ships have come in, plus the day trippers. Far right, at the end of the central street, was where we entered -
Around the 6th Century BC there was an ancient Greek colony about 15km away now called Cavtat (this is where our original hotel was going to be) but then called Epidaurum by the Romans in 228BC. Refugees fleeing from Slavic aggressions in the area moved along the coast and established a town called Ragusa.
Over the centuries the town became an important trading port.
Originally in two parts with a central channel, this was filled in the 12th Century.
At one time ruled by the Byzantine Empire, the Normans, the Venetians, was Independent for a while, the Ottomans, then you can blame the Portuguese who opened up other sea trade routes for spices rather than through the Mediterranean which began the decline of the port, in 1667 an earthquake levelled most of the buildings apart from the walls, in 1683 the Ottomans were defeated in a battle near present day Vienna by the Austrian army and in 1699 the Ottomans ceded all of their ‘holdings’ in most of their empire by Treaty, including Dubrovnik.
We come to May 1806 when Napoleon’s troops (under General Lauriston) entered the city by deception (he’d said he wanted just for rest and refreshments for his troops before moving on to another town called Kotor to invade) even though it wanted to remain neutral. But he took it over.
But, just seven years later after, when Napoleon failed to invade Russia and the desertion of French soldiers from the area, Austrian (and British) troops re-entered the city.
This led to the rule of the city by Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.
It is believed somewhere around the 15th century the name changed to Dubrovnik, but it is referred to in historical documents by both names for still many centuries.
Last thing - “Dubrovnik got its own Statute as early as 1272 and, among others, codified Roman practice and local customs. The Statute included the town planning and regulations of quarantine (hygienic reasons). The Republic of Dubrovnik was very inventive regarding laws and institutions that were developed very early:
• - medical service was introduced in 1301.
• - the first pharmacy (still working) was opened in 1317
• - a refuge for old people was opened in 1347
• - the first quarantine hospital (Lazarete) was opened in 1377
• - slave trading was abolished in 1418
• - the orphanage was opened in 1432
• - the water supply system (20 kilometres) was constructed in 1436”
On a practical note, cars are, rightly so, banned from inside the walls and parking nearby is a major problem. The best bet is a large underground car park up above in the hill to the rear. This though necessitates a long(ish) walk down and then up steps to it. But - there is a ticket you can buy in town that not only allows you to walk the walls all the way round, but also gives you access to numerous museums and places of interest, as well as local bus travel.
Wall access alone costs 200 HRK (Euro 26.63) but the multi-ticket if you want to do all the other stuff is 250 HRK (Euro 33.30).
We bought the multi one. None of it is cheap, nor are the other entrances if you just buy the wall ticket, nor is the car parking by the way, that cost us 24 Euros for a good part of the day.
The walls can be accessed to the west or east, but once you are up there, you can only come back down in those two places. The rest are blocked off.
Enough talk, many photos. I’ll start them off. View from the hotel balcony -
Approaching the city from the west -
Entering -
We are now coming in from the red sticker part on the left -
Either a well disguised security camera or a flying rat as some know them -
Last part to get in -
Now inside and at the start of the central street, the one that originally was a channel between the two sides but filled in. In the first photo, just to the right, is a tourist type office where you can buy either a wall ticket or the multi-ticket -
Looking back to where we just entered. Just to the right corner of the photo is the access to the walls, between the wall and the first building. You can buy just the wall ticket here from the man “guarding” the entrance who I could swear, from his accent, was Icelandic -
Good drinking water and I’d advise if you do this when it is warm weather, never mind hot, to fill up your water bottle -
And so we ascend -
