Dubrovnik, the entity formerly known as Ragusa, has an extraordinary history, earning descriptions such as "a social experiment centuries before its time", and "a free merchant republic that successfully navigated a poltical path between the Ottoman and Venetian empires".

Janine Calic, in A History of the Balkans, gives a bit more context. In the period from the 7th to the 15th centuries, many centres of population emerged in southeastern Europe, sucking people in as their economic importance grew: "However, from a legal point of view, the cities were constituted very differently. In the Latin-dominated coastal regions of Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Albania they had autonomy and organs of local self-government. In Ragusa (Dubrovnik), following the example of Venice, a few rich patrician families ran all state affairs and the economy." By the second half of the 15th century, it had become harder and harder to retain independence, and the southeastern European peninsula was gradually divided up between the Ottoman and Habsburg empires: "Only on the coast and on the islands of the Adriatic did a few Venetian colonies remain. Only the city-state of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) had an autonomous position."

It wasn't until the early years of the 19th century that Dubrovnik succumbed -- to Napoleon. He didn't last that long, but then the city became part of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The topography of this place still amazes us.

This is what you see if you look up from our gate. Way up there somewhere is the road:


We walked over to the new part of town yesterday, regularly encountering features like these:





And in the old town, of course, you're also constantly negotiating twisty alleys and plummeting stairways:



Our objective over in that westerly part of town yesterday morning was Gligora, a cheese shop and delicatessen:


We revisited the old town yesterday evening to take in a bit of the festive atmosphere:






The old stone streets look wonderful by night:


And there's plenty of food on offer, of course:


And so to this morning, Christmas Eve. If we'd read this post, we'd have known what to expect.

But we didn't read it... So, in that blissful state of innocence that is occasioned by ignorance, we reasoned like this: "It's Sunday morning. The old town will be quiet. Look how few shops and cafes appear to be open, according to Google Maps. Let's take a sandwich with us just in case. We can sit and eat it down by the water."

Having tumbled down our famous hill, however, to arrive in town at about 0930, we were pretty surprised to find a steady stream of people descending on it.

Dressed up to the nines, as well. Really -- straight out of a bandbox. Preferred colour: Black. Preferred look: Stilettos (women); bow ties (men). Obligatory accessory: Sunglasses.


We did a little tour of the edges of town. Beautiful, of course:







But as soon as you got close to the core area of the old town, it was overwhelming. SO, SO, SO busy...!

Exactly, of course, as that blog post I quoted said it would be...

Christmas Eve is IT in Croatia. Christmas Day is an also-ran. So, on 24 December, people swarm into the walled city, go to church, parade in their finery, socialize with friends, eat and drink, and enjoy all sorts of entertainment. Lovely, if you like that kind of thing. A bit too much if you're crowd-phobic.

So we beat a retreat, taking our modest little sandwiches back home with us...

Never mind. This evening we made a start on our own Christmas stash of goodies. Big ticks so far.