It’s a lovely June day, warm and welcoming.
After entering through the Pile Gate and ascending the stairs, we begin a circuit of the walls of the Old Town of Dubrovnik.
The walls, largely intact, present a bird’s eye view of the old town as well as some insight into the mind of the city fathers and their efforts to fortify the old town against invaders. Aided by cliffs rising from the Adriatic on the west and south of the Old Town, very thick walls on the landward side and a series of turrets and towers, the walls presented a formidable obstacle.
It’s about two kilometres around and the walk provides the opportunity to see some of the remaining unrepaired damage; the city was shelled for seven months in 1991 by Serbian and Montenegrin forces. Medieval fortifications are no barrier to modern artillery shelling a city from the heights above. The walk provides views of many of the features of this World Heritage site.
These features included (clockwise images): the old town port with its distinctive red-tiled roofs of buildings and apartments and the azure Adriatic Sea; the Venetian baroque style Church of St Blaise; the city’s main street, the pedestrianized Stradun; one of Europe’s oldest apothecary’s, founded in 1317, located in the Franciscan Monastery off the Stradun; Onofrio’s Fountain; and Sponza Palace.
We realise we are hungry and find our way to a small restaurant in one of the lanes leading off the Stradun where we order beer, bread, cheese and sausage. The waiter tries to convince me that a large beer would be too large for me. I point out I am Australian.
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