MANCAMONDO

Eastern
Europe

CROATIA

DUBROVNIK

Croatia (Hrvatska), officially the Republic of Croatia,
is a democratic parliamentary republic at the crossroads
of Central Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, and Montenegro to the southeast, sharing a maritime border with Italy.

Its capital, Zagreb, forms one of the country's primary subdivisions, along with twenty counties.

The name Dubrovnik of the Adriatic city is first recorded in the Charter of Ban Kulin.
In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites
in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town.

Dubrovnik Ragusa Croatia june 2023

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, Neretva County, southern Dalmatia, Croatia, Adriatic Sea, june 2023.

Lokrum Lacroma Dubrovnik Ragusa Croatia june 2019

Lokrum Lacroma, Dubrovnik, Ragusa, Neretva County, southern Dalmatia, Croatia, Adriatic Sea, june 2023.

Dubrovnik Ragusa Croatia october 2023

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, Neretva County, southern Dalmatia, Croatia, Adriatic Sea, october 2023.

Dubrovnik Ragusa Croatia june 2019

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, Harbour, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik (Game of Thrones location), Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Pile and Ploče gate (Game of Thrones location), Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

The Walls of Dubrovnik (Croatian: Dubrovačke gradske zidine) are a series of defensive stone walls surrounding the city of Dubrovnik.

With numerous additions and modifications throughout their history, they have been considered to be amongst the great
fortification systems of the Middle Ages, as they were never breached by a hostile army during this time period.

Today's intact city walls (Game of Thrones location), constructed mainly during the 12th–17th centuries,
mostly a double line, have long been a source of pride for Dubrovnik.

The Walls of Dubrovnik (Game of Thrones location), Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

The Walls of Dubrovnik with sight on Minčeta Tower (Game of Thrones location), Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

The Walls of Dubrovnik (Game of Thrones location), Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Sponza Palace (Game of Thrones location), Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

The Clock tower (Game of Thrones location), Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Cathedral of the Assumption, Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Cathedral of the Assumption, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Saint Ignatius Church, Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

Dubrovnik, Ragusa, OLD City, Croatia 12.06.2019.

There are several sites in the Old City where Game of Thrones was filmed which includes the Pile and Ploče gate,
the St. Dominika street, along the city walls includes the Bokar fortress and the Minčeta tower.

According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus's De Administrando Imperio (c. 950), Ragusa was founded in the 7th century,
named after a "rocky island" called Lausa, by refugees from Epidaurum (Ragusa Vecchia), a Roman city
situated some 15 km to the south, when that city was destroyed in the Slavic incursions.

Dubrovnik-Neretva County Croatia september 2015

Dubrovnik City View, Croatia 04.09.2015.

Ragusa Old city Neretva County Croatia june 2012

The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, also known as
a Maritime Republic (together with Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, Venice and other Italian cities), it became the only eastern city-state to rival Venice.

Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a high level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries.

According to CNNGo, Dubrovnik is among the 10 best medieval walled cities in the world.

Although Dubrovnik was demilitarised in the 1970s to protect it from war, in 1991, after the breakup of Yugoslavia,
it was besieged by Serb-Montenegrin forces for seven months and received significant shelling damage.

In Croatian, the city is known as Dubrovnik; in Italian as Ragusa; and in Latin as Ragusium. Its historical name in Greek is Raugia (Ραυγια) or Ragousa (Ραγουσα).

The current Croatian name was officially adopted in 1918 after the fall
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but it was in use from the Middle Ages.

A feature of Dubrovnik is its walls that run almost 2 km (1.24 mi) around the city.

The City is positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik.

The walls run from four to six metres thick on the landward side but are much thinner on the seaward side.

It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county.

After the fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, the town came under the protection of the Byzantine Empire.
Dubrovnik in those medieval centuries had a Roman population.

After the Crusades, Dubrovnik came under the sovereignty of Venice (1205-1358), which would give its institutions to the Dalmatian city.

The system of turrets and towers were intended to protect the vulnerable city.

Dubrovnik Harbour, Croatia june 2012.

The Franjo Tuđman Bridge (Croatian: Most dr. Franje Tuđmana) is a cable-stayed bridge carrying the
D8 state road at the western approach to Dubrovnik, Croatia across Rijeka Dubrovačka near Port of Gruz.

Norwegian Jade. Dubrovnik Harbour, june 2012.

Croatia

SPLIT

Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centred
around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its bay and port.

As the city became a Roman possession, the Latin name became Aspalatum,
which in the Middle Ages evolved into Aspalathum, Spalathum, Spalatrum,
and Spalatro in the Dalmatian language of the city's Romance population.

The Croatian term became Split or Spljet, while the Italian-language version, Spalato, became universal in international usage by the Early Modern Period.

Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and the second-largest city of Croatia.

Spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings, Split's greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well.

Split is also one of the oldest cities in the area. It is traditionally considered just over 1,700 years old, counting from the construction of Diocletian's Palace in AD 305.

Archaeological research relating the original founding of the city as the Greek colony of Aspalathos (Aσπάλαθος)
in the 6th century BC, establishes the urban tradition of the area as being several centuries older.

The city draws its name from the spiny broom (calicotome spinosa; brnistra or zuka in modern Croatian), a common shrub in the area,
after which the Greek colony of Aspalathos (Aσπάλαθος) or Spalathos (Σπάλαθος), from which the city originates, was named.

When Croatia declared its independence again in 1991, Split had a large garrison of JNA troops (drafted
from all over Yugoslavia), as well as the headquarters and facilities of the Yugoslav War Navy (JRM).

Split Old City, Croatia june 2012.

The Cathedral of Saint Domnius (Katedrala Svetog Duje), known locally as the Saint Dujam, is the Catholic cathedral in Split.

The Cathedral of St. Duje is a complex of a church, formed from an Imperial Roman mausoleum, with a bell tower; strictly
the church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and the bell tower to Saint Duje. Together they form the Cathedral of St. Duje.

The Cathedral of St. Duje is composed of three different sections of different ages.
The main part, Emperor Diocletian's mausoleum, dates from the end of the 3rd century.
Later, in the 17th century a chorus was added to the eastern side of the mausoleum.
The Bell Tower was constructed in the year 1100 AD, in the Romanesque style.

As the city became a Roman possession, the Latin name became "Spalatum", which in the
Middle Ages evolved into "Spalatro" in the Dalmatian language of the city's Romance population.

Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476, Spalatum
became a part of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium.

In 1979, the historic center of Split was included into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

After World War II, Split became a part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, itself
a constituent sovereign republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

During the period the city experienced its largest economic and demographic boom.