The day has come for Brittany and I to start our journey. We are on a train from Lancaster to Penn Station in New York, and from there will get tickets to go to Jamaica station and then to JFK. Throughout this journey so far I have been a ball of stress and nerves, having never ridden a train before and knowing that we have 3 trains and 2 flights until we reach our final destination in Dubrovnik. To help distract myself from my stress, I’m following one of my tips from my previous post and familiarizing myself with the history of Dubrovnik!
Dubrovnik was originally an independent republic called Ragusa, founded as a settlement for those seeking refuge from barbarians in the 7th century. Dubrovnik remained formally known as the Republic of Ragusa until Napoleon’s invasion, but for the sake of clarity I will be continually referring to it as Dubrovnik. The location of Dubrovnik is quintessential in its development throughout history; on the border of Mediterranean culture yet closely tied with the Balkans, it became a crossroads for cultures and civilizations and thrived as a port city. However, it wasn’t too long until Dubrovnik fell under the control of a multitude of various empires and republics.
Despite having grown in strength as part of the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century, Dubrovnik eventually fell under Venetian rule from 1205 to 1358. Venice had been jealous of Dubrovnik’s prosperity and growth, and so attacked the city to prevent being surpassed in popularity. In 1358 the Treaty of Zadar was signed, releasing Dubrovnik from Venetian rule. Dubrovnik then became a Croat-Hungarian state, though they maintained a large amount of independence. The city under this republic continued to thrive until April 6th, 1667, when an earthquake struck, killing 5,000 people and destroying most of the city except for the city walls. This obviously severely weakened Dubrovnik, so when Napoleon invaded in 1806 there was little resistance. The Republic of Ragusa was officially dissolved in 1808, but the territory then became part of the Austro-Hungarian Habsburg Empire in 1815 after Napoleon’s fall.
Dubrovnik didn’t officially become a part of Croatia until after WWI, but even then was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which officially became part of the former Yugoslavia after WWII. The importance of tourism in Dubrovnik allowed it to become a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979, and one of the few locations that was demilitarized in order to not hurt the growth of tourism. Unfortunately, Dubrovnik suffered during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early ‘90’s; hundreds of shells were dropped on Dubrovnik and over two-thirds of the city received direct hits from artillery. Many buildings were damaged from the resulting fires, and the cost of reconstructing all of the damage done was estimated to be about $10,000,000. Though the hits on Dubrovnik were meant to break down morale of the Croatian army fighting for their independence, the Serb army eventually withdrew because of the Croats’ resilience. After the dust settled from their 1990’s battles, Dubrovnik was able to rebuild to its former glory and remain a popular tourist destination. Because of this, to this day Dubrovnik is referred to as “the Pearl of the Adriatic”.
When I started researching Dubrovnik’s history, I was on a train to Penn Station, and now as I am finishing I am waiting in the Madrid airport- 3 trains and 1 plane down, 1 more plane to go! (and let me just say I feel at this point we could borderline have our own remake of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles) Researching your destination really is a great way to use up time when traveling, especially when that traveling includes 10 hours of land travel before even getting on your first plane. While I did already know a chunk of Croatia’s history, I feel like a much more informed traveler knowing more of the details of the history of one of the country’s most popular cities.
just a pic of the airport in Madrid because I'm really digging it
https://www.dubrovnik-travel.net/history/
https://www.visit-croatia.co.uk/croatia-destinations/dubrovnik/history-dubrovnik/