7/17 Wednesday
We’re visiting the Maritime Museum, always
a favorite with Bob. It’s also inside the fortress walls, very cool. The sea
plays a vital role in Croatia’s history, and the stories of the master sailors
and shipbuilders are really interesting. There are lots of model ships and
maps, which Bob thoroughly examines.
We
stop for lunch at a restaurant with a garden terrace tucked away from the
crowds. We share a simple plate of stuffed calamari and have a pleasant break.
After
lunch, we visit the city museum, in the former Rector’s Palace, which was the
city’s seat of government. The story of the early government of Dubrovnik is
interesting. Slavery was abolished in the 15th century. There was a
prominent politician and diplomat, Stjepan Gradić, considered the Father of the
Homeland, who endorsed a philosophy of inclusion, that all the citizens should
be invested in the city, emotionally, economically and politically, so that
everyone contributed to the protection and prosperity of the city, for the
benefit of all. The best way to achieve this was to educate and care for all
the citizens, so they established some of the first public schools, orphanages,
a pharmacy and almshouse. When an earthquake destroyed the city in 1613, he was
in Italy creating a plan to bring foreign investors to the city, to purchase
food, building materials and tools to sell cheaply to the people of Dubrovnik
so they could rebuild their homes as quickly as possible.
We use our bus tickets to ride home,
saving ourselves from a long walk in the hot sun. We have our zucchini and
eggplant dinner on the terrace again, watching the moon come up over the
harbor.
1 Video Included
Dubrovnik Museums
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