Dubrovnik port and sea resort on the Adriatic Cost
Dubrovnik is a Croatian city, port and sea resort on the Adriatic Cost, South of Dalmatia. It is designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Established presumably in the 7th century and having thrived on maritime trade, Dubrovnik is a historic and architectural jewel and a fantastic place to spend a holiday.
Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners
The period of protection by the Byzantine Empire, after the fall of the Ostrogoth kingdom, has been attested archaeologically. An 8th century Byzantine basilica has been discovered here.
The beautiful sun-spoiled Renaissance-Baroque city is surrounded by the thick walls of a Mediterranean fortress. It showcases the Mediterranean main street called Stradun, and many old buildings. Here is the third oldest European pharmacy dating back to the early 14th century, at Little Brothers church, and the late 15th century Arboretum Trsteno, the oldest arboretum in the world. The historic arboretum was founded to hold seeds and plants brought from their travels by sailors of what has been a huge fleet in the prolific 15th and 16th centuries of Dubrovnik. The arboretum has been developed through Gothic and Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic periods and forms and encompasses a Gothic Renaissance park, a 15th century summer residence, which is a monument of garden architecture, a Gothic chapel, a 19th century neoromantic park. Wandering the picturesque walks with palms and statue fountains, one finds himself Mediterranean spellbound and inhaling the subtropical air along with the historic charm of the city considered by playwright George Bernard Shaw to be "heaven on earth"
The bay of Dubrovnik surrounds the wooded island of Lokrum, where, according to legend, King Richard the Lionheart was cast ashore after a shipwreck. The garden houses a fortress, botanical garden, monastery and a naturist beach.
Some of the architectural highlights of Dubrovnik are the 16th century Renaissance Sponza Palace, blending Gothic influences in the tracery of windows with archways and Byzantine-influenced column capitels, the Gothic and Renaissance Rectors Palace with finely carved columns and a richly decorated staircase, housing a museum.
The one-aisle St. Saviour Church features a Gothic cross-ribbed vault, pointed arch windows and rose window, and Renaissance portico.
The Franciscan Monastery in proximity of the church houses a library with numerous precious volumes, incunabula and handwritten documents, as well as a 15th century silver gilt cross and silver thurible, an 18th century crucifix from Jerusalem, a 16th century martyrology .
Other beloved Dubrovnik monuments are the 18th century St. Blaise cathedral, with a baroque facade ornate with statues and pilasters and holding the relics of the patron saint, and the large round Onofrio's fountain, with its course of water surrounding the decorative columns and sculpted medallions.
