Old City of Dubrovnik
The walled city of the Republic of Ragusa. UNESCO listing (opens the UNESCO site) ↗︎
History
The story of Croatia
Greek colonists settled the Dalmatian islands in the fourth century BC; the fields they laid out at Stari Grad on Hvar are still farmed. Rome followed, and around AD 305 the Emperor Diocletian retired to a vast palace on the bay at Split, inside whose walls the old town still lives.
Croats arrived in the seventh century and founded a kingdom, later joined to Hungary. Venice ruled much of Dalmatia for centuries, but Dubrovnik, as the Republic of Ragusa, stayed independent until 1808, a merchant state with a fleet, diplomats and its famous motto of liberty. Croatia was part of the Habsburg world and later Yugoslavia, became independent in 1991 and joined the European Union in 2013.
A short timeline
- Greek colonies4th century BC
Issa on Vis and Pharos on Hvar.
- Rome1st century BC to 5th century AD
Diocletian's Palace at Split; the arena at Pula.
- The Croatian kingdom10th century
Later in union with Hungary.
- Venice and Ragusa15th to 18th centuries
Venetian Dalmatia; independent Dubrovnik.
- Modern Croatia1991 to today
European Union in 2013, the euro in 2023.
