Chorwacja - Dubrovnik - Riviera and Islands (2007).pdf - Europa - XY68

www.visitdubrovnik.hr

HARMONY

county is rich in carefully

cultivated landscape and places

with long history. Numerous mon-

uments, archives and magnificent

treasuries testify to this. It is the

region of the historic towns of

Dubrovnik, KorËula, Ston; the re-

mains of ancient Narona and the

lost, possibly sunken town of Epi-

daur; of important harbours of PloËe and MetkoviÊ; of com-

munities of great historical importance — Cavtat, Lopud,

Slano, Mali Ston, OrebiÊ; and of a few dozen little villages

blending into the landscape of the coast or a river bank, of

a hill or a field. Also, there are about a hundred renaissance

summer houses built by merchants, nobles and seamen in

nice bays, or on the edges of valleys, surrounded by gardens

and parks. On certain sites, these summer

houses were built in spectacular rows, like in

Rijeka DubrovaËka, on the island of ©ipan, in

Konavle. Many different sovereign and ma-

rine powers touched and clashed in this area

throughout its turbulent history: Byzantium,

the Saracens, Croatia, Normandy, Venice,

some small kingdoms and principalities, then

the Hungaro-Croatian state and through it

the Roman-German empire, the

Ottoman empire, Habsburg’s and

Napoleon’s empire. Situated on

such a crossroads, a small town like

Dubrovnik managed, through the

political artfulness of its nobles,

to achieve a wide and complete

form of self-government. Thus for

centuries it acted as a sovereign

state, the Republic of Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik turned its independence into a cult of freedom,

stressed on every possible occasion by its statesmen, envoys

and poets. In 1929, Bernard Shaw, the famous Irish writer,

wrote: “Those who wish to see heaven on earth should come

to Dubrovnik”. He was not only praising the glorious his-

tory of Dubrovnik, but also the natural features of the whole

region, known today as the Dubrovnik-Neretva county.

Indeed, if anyone attempted to fit together

natural characteristics in order to achieve a

perfect harmony between man and nature,

surely he would leave out some of the diver-

sity that God has granted to this region.

Above: St Mark’s Cathedral in KorËula; A detail of the Neretva delta;

the islet of Saint Mary on the Mljet lakes.

Right: Lovrijenac Fortress, along with the walls, numerous turrets, bastions

and fortifications, is the manifest expression of Dubrovnik’s view of the

preciousness of freedom.

T he Dubrovnik-Neretva

TREASURY

tory, Dubrovnik

has prided itself on

its abundant water

supplies. In the

scorching Medi-

terranean, where each drop of water is of

essential value, the first thing that catches

the eye after entering the city through

any of its entrances is a richly decorated,

fast-flowing fountain. This has been so ever

since the fourth decade of the 15th century.

Fountains have always been the most obvi-

ous symbols of the town’s prosperity.

From the distant mines situated

in the surrounding area, silver was transported

to Dubrovnik by dangerous routes, to be

exported by sea. Dubrovnik could offer

the most precious kind of silver, called

“glama”, an alloy of silver and gold. Prof-

its from the silver trade made it possible

to build a very complex water-supply sys-

tem. This would carry water from a dis-

tant spring to the town, to shine as silver

itself and dazzle every visitor as soon as

he entered the town. The proud com-

munity also trusted the creator of the

fountain, Pietro di Partino da Milano

— a sculptor and the court artist of the

Aragons — with the construction of

the stone reliefs on Kneæev dvor, one

of the symbols of Dubrovnik’s identity. He also designed the re-

liefs on the fountains, intended to be an indication of the town’s

prosperity. Not even the much more powerful rival town of Ven-

ice could afford such extravagance. The people of KorËula, under

Venetian rule, were expected to carefully collect every drop of

water as a gift from heaven. In KorËula, the cisterns were often

empty, and the barrels full of vintage wine. From some of the sil-

ver passing through the town, the images of saints and patrons for

the churches of Dubrovnik were made. Even after

a large number of earthquakes, fires and other

adversities, the town’s churches, cathedral

and convents still pride themselves on their

treasury of gold and silver objects. All this

time, plenty of fresh water irrigates the

rich and fertile soil of the Neretva delta!

Above: Navicula, a silver receptacle for frankincense in the shape of the

Dubrovnik-made ship, nave; A silver statute of St Blaise, Dubrovnik’s

patron saint; Sponza Palace, the main commercial and financial

centre of medieval Dubrovnik; Onofrio’s Little Fountain.

Right: Traditional way of making jewelry.

T hroughout his-

WORLD MARITIME

enjoyed great importance in the move-

ment of goods and travelers in Europe for a

thousand years. The city was awarded this role

due to its exceptional geographical position and

held onto it for a long time. It is the last protected point along the

sailing route from the ports of the North-western Adriatic towards

the south-east. South of Dubrovnik, the only thing facing sail-

ing boats is the deep, open sea.

During bad weather, Dubrovnik

presented a safe haven for trav-

ellers patiently waiting for calm-

er seas or for those travelling by

land to destinations like Con-

stantinople, the wealthy cities

of the East and the Holy Land.

This is how this strong citadel,

a safe refuge for travellers, be-

came one of the most important

points along the world travel

route. Tiny Dubrovnik thus be-

came the counterpoint to the

larger Venice. Here rose another exceptional

town, KorËula, situated on the narrowest of pas-

sages full of small reefs. From the time of Ven-

ice, KorËula was used as the most convenient

point for the monitoring of traffic. Both towns

are built upon cliffs protecting extensive ports. The roles of both

towns gave them their characteristic shape and their particular

town plan. Many of the streets in KorËula lead to the highest point

of the town, the bell-tower of

the Cathedral of St Mark. The

streets of Dubrovnik descend

from the clifftops to the bay,

towards the wide main street

called Stradun. The strength

of Dubrovnik resulted from its

skill in diplomacy which the

political elite often took advan-

tage of for their own benefit.

By intelligent manoeuvring, it

benefitted from the Turkish ad-

vance towards Central Europe

in the 16th century to establish

“The residents of Dubrovnik have a lot of

ships which sail far.” (El Idrisi, 12th c.)

A safe journey was guaranteed by skilful

shipbuilders, numerous coastal fortifications

and lighthouses.

its almost monopolistic commercial position. The boom which

followed saw an unprecedented growth in the commercial fleet

which competed with the largest of the maritime fleets in the

Mediterranean. As the number of commercial ships carrying

Dubrovnik flags grew, so did their nave, specifically constructed

boats from Dubrovnik shipbuilders. The largest boats from the

shipyard could only be lowered into the sea on their starboard

side. This unique procedure is still not easily adopted by con-

temporary shipyards. And today, for lovers of hand-crafted boats,

natives of KorËula still construct them; boats which evolved from

centuries of life beside the sea.

POWER

D ubrovnik, one of the smallest cities,

MARCO POLO

the town of KorËula and

the island of the same name in the

Dubrovnik region as being the place of origin of the Polo

family, from which its most famous member, Marco, by

way of Venice set forth towards the East. KorËula is one

of the best preserved planned medieval Mediterranean

towns, whose layout dates back to the XIII century. Due to

its developed shipping trade, the town was always adorned

with a progressive and open spirit. A high degree of order

in town life is confirmed by the town statute from 1214,

which corresponds in time with similar provisions in the

most developed European towns. Along with the origin of

his family, the maritime battle of the two trade Republics

of Genoa and Venice in 1298, one of the largest and most

vicious maritime battles in

Medieval times, also links

Marco Polo with KorËula.

The Polo galleon was in the

Venetian fleet, under the

command of Marco himself,

who was then 44 years of

age. Captured, in a Genoese

jail he began writing books

in which he summarised his

twenty-four year stay in, at

the time, unexplored parts of

the world. As he wasn’t much

of a writer, he dictated his

recollections to a writer of chivalrous novels Rustichello. So

it was that in the Old French language emerged the most

translated book of all times, after the Bible, whose original

title was Divisament don Monde (The description of the

world), later called Il Milione, which means “A million

wonders”. The appearance and expansion of the writings

about the trips of Marco Polo, his father and uncle, meant

a shift of the Eastern border of the known world. The va-

riety of Marco Polo’s observations and acquired knowledge

enabled historians, sociologist, geographers, ethnologists

and anthropologists to create, or evoke an image of the new

world. Europeans first heard about Tibet, Madagascar, Ja-

pan and other countries from Marco Polo, they heard about

paper money, coal, oil and porcelain for the first time, they

were awed by the descriptions of wondrous landscapes,

useful plants, unusual ani-

mals and spices; some Chi-

nese inventions like blocks

in printing and gun powder

were a great novelty in the

West, while the compass be-

came an essential instrument

in navigation. However, in

the end, Europeans and later

everyone else became lov-

ers of the Chinese culinary

product spaghetti which was

brought to their table by this

great world traveller.

M any documents mention

Chorwacja - Dubrovnik - Riviera and Islands (2007).pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: