Dubrovnik

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Dubrovnik , 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.

Dubrovnik, Croatia Ragusium, Ragusa Roman refugees fleeing from Cavtat, further south on the coast, in the 7th century settled on the then island of Lava (which became Lausa ‘rock’ in Greek, then the Latin Rausa/Ragusium, Rhacusa, and Ragusa). A second settlement developed on the wooded mainland which had a Slav name, Dubrava, which in Russian means ‘Oak wood’ from dub ‘oak’; in Serbo‐Croat dubrava means ‘grove’. The two settlements merged in the 12th century when the channel separating them was filled in. Under Venetian sovereignty, though retaining considerable independence from 1205 to 1358, the city was thereafter called the Republic of Ragusa, only losing its independence in 1808 by Napoleonic decree. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815 it was ceded to Austria until 1918 when it joined the newly created Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and became known as Dubrovnik. Between the 12th and 15th centuries the area was known as Morlacchia, named after its inhabitants, the Morlachs, whose skins were darker than their Slav neighbours. The Morlachs were a branch of the Vlachs, their name being derived from the Byzantine Greek mauros ‘black’ and Blaxos ‘Vlach’.

Dubrovnik Adriatic seaport in Dalmatia, Croatia. As a free city, it was an important trading post between the Ottoman empire and Europe, and a traditional place of asylum for persecuted peoples. It was devastated by an earthquake (1979), and a 1991 Serbian siege. Sites include a 14th-century mint, Franciscan and Dominican monasteries. It is an important tourist centre. Products: grapes, cheese, olives. Pop. (2001) 45,830.

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