We’re in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our big Italian cruise ship pulled into Dubrovnik’s Old Harbor this morning. We jumped onto tenders that took us into the harbor, then entered the Old City and started our walk through Dubrovnik.
Dubrovnik’s Old Town is surrounded by the huge wall. People enter and exit through either of two gates. The main thoroughfare, the “Stradun,” runs between them. We entered and started wandering down the Stradun.
The Stradun
It’s all pedestrians on the Stradun — no cars. Judging by the number of souvenir shops near the main gate, I’m guessing we’re not the first tourists to find this place.
The layout of the Old City is pretty much just as it was 800 years ago. But in 1667, an earthquake and the resulting fire just about leveled the place. Structures built after the earthquake had to be built of stone.
It’s wild, walking through a city built entirely of stone. The buildings, some old, some not so old, are all made of stone. The Stradun itself is paved with smooth limestone tiles. They’re very smooth. I bet it’s like walking on ice here when they’re wet.
Shops and restaurants line both sides of the Stradun. Some of the restaurants have tables outside that look like great places to settle in for a while. The vibe is peaceful and laid back.
On Top of the Wall
We came to a place where people can get up to the top of the wall. Oh boy! But it would be quite a hike up steep stone steps to get there. This was my Not-Into-Climbing Better Half’s cue to find a nice spot to hang out while I go do my “climb-to-the top” thing.
I scrambled up the steps. I hadn’t realized how warm it was in direct sunlight. But the view from the top of the wall was spectacular. It’s possible to walk all the way around the Old City on top of the wall, but I think a look from a few vantage points will suffice for today.
From the top of the wall I had a great view of the Old City. I could see our big Italian cruise ship waiting for us off in the distance . The top of the Old City is almost solid rooftops. Some are clearly very old, but quite a few are relatively new.
New roofs were built to replace previous roofs that had been blown off. Not by the wind. By artillery.
OK. So What Happened Here?
Let’s get back into Dubrovnik’s history. Given it’s location, Dubrovnik’s past has been surprisingly calm for the past thousand years. For the past hundred years, though, not so much.
As noted last time, the trouble started at the end of World War I. At the war’s end, the winners got together to divide up the spoils and establish boundaries of whatever countries they deemed would exist.
They created a brand new state in the middle of the Baltic Peninsula. They named it the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. As one might infer from the name, it wasn’t a particularly well-thought-out idea.
It wasn’t long before the dominant Serb political party managed to gain the upper hand. Once in control, they banned all other political parties, threw out the constitution, and renamed the country Yugoslavia.
World War II Begins
When World War II started, the Yugoslav government sided with the Nazi’s. The powerless Croatians in Yugoslavia had had enough. They declared themselves to be the Independent State of Croatia, and they sided with the Allies.
That was a gutsy move, to say the least. The Nazi’s and their allies had been steamrolling their way south from Germany down into the Balkan Peninsula. Croatians were the first group in Eastern Europe to put up a real fight.
Nazi’s attacked Croatian forces from the north. Mussolini’s Fascists, who were allies of Nazi Germany, attacked from the east. The Croatians managed to hold out, eventually getting help from the Russian Red Army – our allies at the time.
When World War II came to an end, the winners got together to divide up the spoils and to establish boundaries of whatever countries they deemed would exist. (Does that sound vaguely familiar?)
They decided that a big chunk of land south of Austria and north of Greece would be a new country called the Federal Republic of Yugoslovia. It would include – you guessed it – Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, along with other groups in the area. Here we go again?
To be continued…
