Dubrovnik - Climbing the Walls

Once a powerful city-state, built in the Venetian style, Dubrovnik’s warm red tiled roofs cap cream coloured brick walled buildings; narrow streets crisscross the city hiding coffee shops, pizza parlours and gift shops. Churches and palaces stand around open squares hosting markets and restaurant patios – it’s hard to walk through without stopping. But, to see the real beauty of Dubrovnik, you need to climb. After all, the famous Walk of Shame scene from Game of Thrones where Cersei descends a labyrinth of stone steps was filmed here.

Carol’s Walk of Shame

And, Dubrovnik is a walled city. So, a good introduction is to walk the walls, built broad and formidable, starting in the 10^th century; a roller-coaster walk around the two kilometers of undulating parapets is no mean feat, especially on a hot summer’s day – we started early. But, first you have to climb up there…

We’re old, so we started the climb by taking painkillers: no sense in tempting fate. The view from the top is stunning as we looked down on nuns tending their vegetable gardens, children playing basketball, women hanging out their laundry, and tourists sipping wine.

St Lawrence Fort from Walls

The city has two gates; we entered through the Pile Gate and walked to the Ploče Gate in order to find the entrance to the walls. Then we climbed to the Revelin Fort for the start of the ramparts. From here we climbed the slope to the highest point of the walls, the circular Minčeta Tower. My friend and I climbed the circular stairs to the top for wonderful views and a fresh breeze. Then it was across to a view of the landmark Big Fountain of Onofrio; from here we could see the Fort Lovrijnec (St Lawrence) across the water familiar now as King’s Landing. This Fort protected the city from invasion, defending the main land and sea accesses. It’s constructed with very thick walls facing away from the city but a thin wall on the city side. Thus, if captured by an enemy, the city’s guns could easily penetrate its defences. The Red Bull Cliff Diving competition is held annually from its outer walls.

Cathedral: Station of the Cross

St Blaise

Croatia is Catholic and all of its churches and cathedrals mark the Stations of the Cross. Many have modern art depictions of each station; they were so striking I sought them out in each church we entered, photographing them when I could. I’ve shown one from Dubrovnik Cathedral. This Cathedral’s Treasury houses the relics of the patron Saint of Dubrovnik – he’s credited with warning the city’s inhabitants of a pending attack by Venetian forces enabling them to thwart it. His familiar figure sits in plinths throughout Dubrovnik holding a model of the city in his left hand.

Sadly, he wasn’t able to provide the same protection during the Croatian War of Independence. Despite being a World Heritage site since 1979, the city was bombed relentlessly during this war in 1991 and 1992, sustaining significant damage; as the Serbs tried to expand their borders. It has been rebuilt but plenty of signs of that war remain.

After spending the day climbing we took the cable car high above the city for an afternoon stroll and an unrivalled view of the city and the bay. There was a lovely cool breeze there too.