Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik (d`brôvnĭk), Ital. Ragusa, city (1991 pop. 49,728), in extreme S Croatia, on a promontory of the Dalmatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. It is a port and tourist and cultural center, with some light industries. Dubrovnik was founded as Ragusium in the 7th cent. by Romans fleeing Slav incursions. Later, however, Slavic people settled in the city, which became a link between the Latin and Slavic civilizations. Ragusa became a powerful merchant republic (the term argosy derives from its name); although it was a protectorate of the Byzantine Empire until 1205, of Venice until 1358, of Hungary until 1526, and of the Ottoman Empire until 1806, it remained virtually independent until it was abolished in 1808 by Napoleon I and included in the Illyrian provs. The Congress of Vienna assigned (1815) it to Austria, and in 1918, as Dubrovnik, it was included in what became (1929) Yugoslavia. The medieval city was a center of south Slavic culture and literature. It suffered a severe earthquake in 1667 but retains much medieval architecture, notably its walls and forts, customshouse, mint, 15th-century rector's palace, and Dominican and Franciscan monasteries, with one of the oldest (1317) pharmacies in Europe. The city was heavily damaged in fighting that followed Croatia's secession from Yugoslavia in 1991, but much of the damage was repaired, and the tourism industry largely revived, by 2000.

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Dubrovnik

Port city (pop., 2001: 43,770), Croatia. It is situated on the southern Adriatic coast southwest of Sarajevo. Founded in the 7th century by Roman refugees, it came under Byzantine rule after the fall of Rome. It acknowledged Venetian suzerainty (1205–1358) but remained largely independent and became a mercantile power. It was known as a centre of Slavic literature and art in the 15th–17th centuries. Subjugated by Napoleon I in 1808, it was passed to Austria in 1815 and to Yugoslavia in 1918. It was bombed by the Serbs (1991–92) during Croatia's struggle for independence. The old city, enclosed by medieval city walls, contains 14th-century convents and the 15th-century Rector's Palace.

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Dubrovnik

a port in W Croatia, on the Dalmatian coast: an important commercial centre in the Middle Ages; damaged in 1991 when it was shelled by Serbian artillery. Pop.: 49 730 (1991)

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Dubrovnik 

(in Latin sources, Ragusa or Ragusium), a city and port in Yugoslavia, in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Population, 33,000 (1971). It is connected by rail lines and highways with the country’s interior. There is a food-processing industry, but the main occupation of the inhabitants is providing services for tourists (200,000 annually, of which 140,000-150,000 are foreign tourists). The Historical Institute of the Yugoslav Academy and the Maritime Museum are located in Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik was founded in the seventh century—according to one version (a work by Constantine Porphyrogenitus), by emigrants from the Roman city of Epidaurus; according to another version (the chronicle of the priest Duklianin), by the Slavic king Pavlimir. In the Middle Ages it was the center of the Dubrovnik Republic. In 1808 it became part of the Illyrian Provinces, and in 1815 it came under the authority of the Hapsburgs. In 1918, Dubrovnik became part of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (renamed Yugoslavia in 1929). In April 1941 the city was occupied by the troops of fascist Italy. Near the end of 1944 it was freed by the People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia.

The picturesque location of Dubrovnik, with its pleasant climate and medieval appearance, has made the city famous as a museum and seaside health resort. Dubrovnik is situated on a precipitous cape above the sea. The city’s old section, surrounded by two rows of heavy stone walls with square and round towers dating from the 14th to 16th centuries, is an integrated complex of stone structures of the 14th through 18th centuries: houses with arcades on the first floor, narrow streets paved with stone, and small squares with fountains decorated with statues; Renaissance palaces (the Prince’s Palace, now the Municipal Museum, second half of the 15th century, architects O. de la Cava, Michelozzo, and Juraj the Dalmatian; the so-called Divona, the former customs house and mint, 1516-21, architects P. Milicevic and B., P., and I. Andrijic); the Franciscan Monastery (first half of the 14th century) and the Dominican Monastery (14th to 15th centuries); and churches in the baroque style (the cathedral, 1671-89, and the Church of St. Vlach, 1707-15). Outside the old city are palaces and villas of the 15th and 16th centuries with arcaded inner courtyards, pools, and fountains, as well as structures added in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since 1950 the annual Dubrovnik Festival, in which Yugoslav and foreign theater and music groups participate, has been held in Dubrovnik. Programs are presented on the small squares of the old city, which form natural stages, as well as on the squares in front of the palaces and cathedrals and in the atriums and terraces.

In 1955, Dubrovnik was the site of the congress of the International Theater Institute under the auspices of UNESCO.

Dubrovnik has dry, hot summers (average July temperature, 25°C) and warm, moist winters (average January temperature, 8.7°C). Methods of medical treatment include sea bathing, sun and air baths, the grape cure, and sea, pine, radium, and carbonate baths. Patients are treated for nontubercular diseases of the respiratory organs, functional disorders of the nervous system, and secondary anemias.

REFERENCES

Fisković, C. Dubrovnik. Belgrade-Ljubljana, 1959.
Dubrovnik. Text by C. Fisković [Album]. Belgrade, 1966.
Dubrovaćke ljetne igre. Edited by M. Fotez. Belgrade, 1958.
“Le théâtre en Yougoslavie.” Le théâatre dans le monde, 1966, vol. 15, no. 5.
Borisov, A. D. Vazhneishie kurorty sotsialisticheskikh stran Evropy. Moscow, 1967.