Traveling should be a really great experience, but it can often be a nerve-wracking ordeal to find the ideal locations to spend your precious time. At Legendary Journeys we make it our mission to relieve the stress of travel by providing you with an expansive amount of information about great places all around the world! From constructed marvels to amazing natural beauty, we have a lot of experience and knowledge to share. The city we will be discussing today is Dubrovnik, Croatia, whose militaristic history has left a lot of interesting landmarks behind in its wake!
The Walls of Dubrovnik are a very large series of stone walls which have acted as a defensive barricade for the city since its founding prior to the 7th century. They were built entirely with limestone. The walls have been heavily modified throughout the centuries and are considered to be one of the greatest fortifications of the Middle Ages, having never been breached even once during that time period. It is considered to be among the largest and most complete of its type in all of Europe and served to protect the freedom of the peaceful republic for over five centuries! The walls are reinforced with seventeen towers in total, five bulwarks, and the looming building which is known as St. John's Fortress. Further the walls were reinforced by smaller bastions such as Fort Bokar, which is the oldest preserved fort of its kind in all of Europe! There was a moat that encircled the walls of the outside section of the city, which protected the 120 cannons that defended the city very well! In a testament to how amazing these walls were built during the nineties when the city was bombarded by modern technology these older buildings help up remarkably well in comparison to the newer structures on the city's outskirts! The old city of Dubrovnik, which includes a fair portion of the walls, was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
Fort Lovrijenac, otherwise known as St. Lawrence Fortress, is a fortress and theater which can be found outside the western wall of the city. It got its fame for its plays as well as the importance it had in resisting Venetian rule, it looms large over both the entrance by sea and by land into the city. The Venetians wished to build a fort on this very location but were beaten to the punch by the locals who managed to build it in only three months! It is widely believed that if they had succeeded they would have held onto Dubrovnik as the locals would not have had a foothold for defense. Like the walls that surround the city, this fort is built from Limestone and is very well preserved to this day.
Dubrovnik is proof that even peaceful societies can have structures built for war time. Because of these marvels of defensive genius it has withstood many sieges and known widespread peace in its time. Also, it makes the city very interesting! There is more to see in Dubrovnik than just the beautiful craftsmanship of its outer walls though, and we'll gladly take you there and many other great cities next year as part of a 20 day cruise! For all of the information on this great trip, click here.
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