A cruise ship can move very swiftly or dawdle interminably, depending on its itinerary. The
distance from Hvar to Dubrovnik is not great, so we must have sailed very slowly overnight.
Our entry into Gruž Harbor took us past a series of small picturesque islands. The sun was
making a valiant attempt to break through the overcast but would never quite make it today.
We docked at 8 AM and climbed aboard a bus for the short drive to Old Town.
Dubrovnik. Who cannot remember the television images of its shelling in 1991 during the civil
war in the former Yugoslavia? Over 2000 shells hit Dubrovnik. Of the 824 buildings in Old Town,
two-thirds were hit, leaving gaping holes in their tiled roofs. There were 111 direct hits on the
great wall, and 314 direct hits on building facades and the paving stones of streets and squares.
Nine historic palaces were destroyed by fire, and many others sustained severe damage.
Much of the damage has been repaired but some ruins remain visible from atop the great wall.
And a number of buildings have had their facades repaired but still are little more then rubble
inside. But, all-in-all, the rebuilding and restoration of this ancient city has progressed
splendidly. Much of its original grandeur has returned.
We entered Old Town through Pile Gate, under a statue of the city’s patron saint (St Blaise) which is set
in a niche above the arch. Directly ahead is the Placa, a wide pedestrian promenade which stretches from
the gate almost to the harbor. It is lined with shops and restaurants, St Saviour Church, a Serbian
Orthodox Church and a Franciscan monastery. At the end of the promenade is the tall Clock Tower and
Orlando’s Column, carved in 1417, the site where festivals took place and edicts were announced.
We walked under an archway in the old town wall to the harbor. A few small boats were departing but it
was a quiet scene.
Not so the nearby morning market. Vendors were showing off their produce and negotiating
with local buyers. Fruit seemed to be popular with the tourists.
Further on we took a look at the
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin, a baroque structure built after the 1667 earthquake.
In front of the cathedral was a pile of rubble, another reminder of the civil war.
After walking through side streets and getting some glimpses of the daily life of the townspeople, we climbed the city walls. This was the highlight of the day, as the walk all around the city provided panoramic views of the sea and a wonderful look into the old city. Many buildings have yet to be repaired, even ten years after the shelling. But it remains a quaint and beautiful city.
The effect of the shelling on the roofs is most obvious from atop the walls. All of the town’s tiled
roofs had been constructed from a rose-colored terracotta from a single tile factory. But the factory
no longer existed and the town could find no replacement tiles to repair the damaged roofs. They
eventually found a somewhat close match in France, and then some in Slovenia; and today, a factory
in Zagreb is producing them. But nowhere could they find a match of the rosy color of the original
tiles. From the walls the patchwork of old and new tiles is quite evident. You can also see many
buildings that have still not been repaired, ten years later.
We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant along the Placa. A light rain began to fall but we were protected by a large umbrella. After some browsing in the shops, we took the bus back to the ship. At 5:00 the ship sailed, swinging around some of the nearby islands and then past the outer walls of Old Town Dubrovnik.
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