Dubrovnik City Walls

Dubrovnik City Walls

A whole city in a ring of stone

On the sparkling Adriatic coast of Croatia lies the beautiful old city of Dubrovnik, and the most amazing thing about it is that the entire old town is wrapped inside a great ring of stone walls. These walls run for nearly two kilometres all the way around the city, rising in places to 25 metres — as tall as an eight-storey building — and in some spots they are six metres thick. Towers, round bastions and forts strengthen them at every turn. From the walls, visitors look down on a sea of orange rooftops on one side and the deep blue sea on the other.

The proud little republic

For hundreds of years Dubrovnik was not part of a big kingdom but its own small, independent country — the Republic of Ragusa. Though tiny, it grew very rich and clever through trade, sending its ships all over the Mediterranean. Surrounded by far more powerful neighbours, the little republic survived by being skilful in business, careful in friendships, and extremely well defended.

That is why the people of Dubrovnik spent so much effort and money building these enormous walls. Over the centuries, from the Middle Ages into the 1600s, they kept making the defences higher, thicker and stronger, especially as the threat of cannon grew.

Never broken by an enemy

The walls did their job magnificently. In all their long history, no attacking army ever managed to break through them by force. Dubrovnik's defences, combined with the cleverness of its leaders, kept the little republic free and safe for centuries while empires rose and fell around it.

Among the strongest points are the round Minčeta Tower at the highest corner, the sea-facing Fort Bokar, and — standing apart on its own great rock just outside the walls — the proud Fort Lovrijenac, sometimes called "Dubrovnik's Gibraltar".

Earthquake and recovery

The walls survived every enemy, but they could not stop the earth itself. In 1667 a terrible earthquake struck Dubrovnik, destroying many buildings and killing thousands of people. The city was rebuilt, and the walls were repaired, but the disaster weakened the once-mighty republic. Today the rebuilt old town, with its gleaming streets of polished stone, dates largely from after that great quake.

A famous film set

In recent years Dubrovnik has become known to millions of people around the world as a filming location, most famously standing in for the city of "King's Landing" in a hugely popular television series. Fans now walk the walls and streets looking for scenes they remember from the screen, adding a new chapter to the city's long story.

Visiting today

Walking the full circuit of Dubrovnik's walls is one of the great experiences in Europe. The path climbs up and down past towers and forts, with breathtaking views at every step — the red rooftops and church domes of the old town, the harbour, and the dazzling Adriatic stretching to the horizon. Protected by UNESCO as a world treasure, the walls of Dubrovnik are proof that even a tiny country, with enough cleverness and stone, can stand strong against the whole world.