City Overview
So smitten was Lord Byron with Dubrovnik that he eulogised the one-time city-state as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’. George Bernard Shaw was not slow to praise this superlative inducing paradise either, proclaiming that ‘those who seek paradise on earth should seek it in Dubrovnik.’ Backed by steep limestone crags to the rear and fronted by the sublimely blue waters of the Adriatic, this perfectly preserved gem is encompassed within sturdy medieval walls, which house a cocktail of baroque churches and palaces.
Dubrovnik (formerly known as the Republic of Ragusa) survived for centuries as a free city state whose motto was ‘Libertas’ (freedom), standing up both against the powerful Venetians to the north as well as the Ottomans to the south with the sort of skilful negotiation and double-dealing that Machiavelli would have been proud of. Its proud citizens boast that their thick city walls have never been breached, though the walls and the resolve of the inhabitants were tested in the winter of 1991-1992 when Serb and Montenegrin paramilitaries, backed up the Yugoslav National Army, the Navy and the Air Force laid siege to a city that had no real strategic value or Serb claim to ownership in a brutal act of cultural vandalism that helped bring Europe round to the Croatian cause.
Today the only legacies of the siege are the swathe of new roof tiles, easily identified by their new shade (the original quarry closed down before the siege), and the large board that guards the entry to the old city, and marks where the shells hit. Today the crowds are back in Dubrovnik as it reclaims its crown. In high season, the city overflows with tourists and cruise ship passengers and more and more citizens from the rest of Europe are investing in property in this idyllic corner of the Adriatic.
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