DUBROVNIK - In Your Pocket

58
dubrovnik neretva county
The finest vineyards in Croatia bask on Pelješac’s spectacular
conical hills. This is the home of the indigenous Plavac Mali
grape, and on certain south facing slopes near the village of
Dingač the vines yield grapes of awesome quality. Dingač is
an atom bomb of a wine: rich, dark and strong, and was the
first Croatian wine to gain protected geographic origin (1961).
It’ll cost you about 10 Euro a bottle, but to enjoy the Pelješac
experience to the full, we recommend you try it. Postup is
another Pelješac wine often called “Dingač’s baby brother”,
while Plavac is softer, more affordable and very quaffable.
On Pelješac you can find wonderful stone villages, untouched
by modern times. Coastal hamlets are backed by steep
slopes, their shores fringed by pine. Pelješac is famous for
pristine shingle beaches, and on the southern side a bracing
wind makes this a favourite spot for windsurfers, especially at
Viganj. Orebić is the largest resort, its architecture reflecting
its links with the Republic of Dubrovnik, and has fantastic
stretches of shingle to the east of town. A ferry connects
Orebić with Korčula town, and Trstenik to Polače on Mljet -
ideal for island hopping.
The best thing about Pelješac is its unspoilt character. Take
time to slowly discover and drink in its delights – a week will
hardly be long enough.
Summer camp of a different kind... The name Dubrovnik
evokes images of Renaissance buildings with ancient palaces
surrounded by the radiant blue waters of the Adriatic Sea.
Well amidst all that beauty there is another side to the city
that offers tourists a different experience, an experience that
connects the present to the city’s very own past. It all has to
do with the natural resource ‘salt’, yes that very ingredient
that most cooks simply cannot live without. Let us turn back
the clock for a moment to fill you in on some history.
The Republic of Dubrovnik was very well off and part of its
prosperity came from the trading of salt. Obtaining salt
from sea water and exporting it to other regions brought
economic wealth to its aristocrats. The region also included
the small coastal town of ‘Ston’, whose entire working
population and surroundings were mobilised for extracting
and panning salt.
Believe it or not, over hundreds of years the need for salt
intensified causing competitors such as the Venetians
and Turks to have open armed clashes with Dubrovnik
merchants.
Dubrovnik In Your Pocket
www.inyourpocket.com
Trsteno - Balm for the soul If you’re on the edge of your
nerves and even a stay in Dubrovnik brings no respite to your
soul, it’s time to go green, get back to nature and indulge in
a spot of tree hugging at Trsteno. It’s not only the terminally
overworked who will be delighted by this historic arboretum –
of course, for gardeners and plant lovers it’s unmissable. The
centrepiece is a summer villa first built by Dubrovnik nobleman
Ivan Marinov Gučetić in 1494. Rather than investing his wealth
into a sprawling and luxurious home, he built a more modest
abode and surrounded it with gardens in which his spirit could
soar. More than one hundred years later, his descendant
Nikola Vitov Gučetić composed humanist philosophical texts
here. Trsteno was thus created by a man with a vision and
aided by local sea captains who came home from their
travels bearing gifts of exotic specimens. Over the centuries,
many people have invested their energy and soul into these
gardens. A sense of gratitude to nature and water permeates
– don’t miss the baroque fountain at the foot of the stone
aqueduct. East of the villa lie a grape and olive press, once
shared by the local community. A little path leads from the
villa to the sea where a pavilion overlooking the water offering
a view of the true meaning of this place – botanical splendour
on the lush, island-strewn Mediterranean. In this part of the
garden, you can also see the oldest tree in the arboretum – a
palm almost 500 years old looking remarkably healthy. The
arboretum includes the original 15th century garden laid out
in renaissance style, with a geometric pattern of paths, a
chapel, the fountain and aqueduct. There is also a newer
garden (early 20th century) featuring formal and modern
sections, with features typical of the southern Adriatic, plus
a historic olive grove and natural woodland. Trsteno suffered
quite badly both from shelling and from a forest fire which
broke out in 2000, but Mother Nature has taken over and
it’s clearly business as usual. A walk amid the beautiful, tall
trees offers welcome dappled shade and the chance to enjoy
the harmony of man and nature.
The village of Trsteno is a modest little settlement with
a fine church, St Vitus, and two huge 500 year old Asiatic
plane trees. By the waterside just east of the gardens is a
remarkable but dilapidated fort, and a tiny harbour where a
stream cascades down rocks into the sea. Magical.
Župa dubrovačka The road south from Dubrovnik snakes
alongside a broad bay dotted with some of the loveliest
beaches to be found on the Mediterranean.Their white
pebbles are probably the reason why the village of Srebreno
was given its name, which means “Silver”. The water here
is that perfect aquamarine colour so beloved of the holiday
brochures. The town of Mlini is named after the water mills
that you can still see here, driven by streams that race down
the mountainside and emerge right on the beach, bringing
the sea to a temperature that could be named “refreshing”
or “freezing” depending on the hardiness of the swimmer
in question.
These resorts are not “fashionable”, one of the reasons being
that this part of the coast was occupied by the Yugoslav army
during the early 90s. Then the hotels were used for housing
refugees, as was the case with so many in Croatia, and
became unusable. The village of Kupari is all but devastated,
as it was a military base. Clearly a dismal situation for the
local people, with a once thriving industry lying dormant
and some fine old buildings on the waterfront empty and
pockmarked by bullets, but renovation is presently going on
and things will get better.
We highly recommend these resorts for the following reasons.
The bathing is superb (tingly refreshing, mmm!) There is plenty
of excellent accommodation in private apartments, and prices
are more than reasonable. With Dubrovnik just 20 minutes
away by bus, this is a great place to stay if you’re on a budget
and appreciate a quieter environment and clean beaches.
Srebreno is the centre of this little region, and here you’ll find
necessities such as the tourist information centre, banks, the
post office and a large supermarket. There’s also a campsite
and a new night bar, Porto, which has become the venue of
choice for Dubrovnik’s party animals on a Friday night. Mlini’s
waterfront is possibly the most unusual we’ve ever seen: a
picturesque village aspect is created by a stream, a watermill
and a massive plane tree dating back to 1752 right on the
beach. Nearby Plat has a pleasant hotel complex with little
villas nestled in leafy shade.
Linđo
The folk tradition is very much connected with music and
dance. During the Dubrovnik Summer Festival you will
surely have the chance to see Linđo, Dubrovnik’s foremost
folk troupe, going strong since 1964. The region’s
folk music is centred around a one-stringed instrument
called a Ljerica. Legend has it that one Niko Lale was an
especially talented player even though one of his fingers
was broken. One day, he had enough of working in the
fields and screamed “No more farming for me!” – oddly,
in perfect English. From then on he was a full time party
animal and became known as Linđo.
dubrovnik neretva county
The folk tradition
The people of Dubrovnik and the surrounding regions
proudly maintain their folk tradition, which you can still
see at festivals, folklore performances, and processions
on feast days; in museums and sometimes even on your
waiter in rural restaurants. Every region, and in some
cases every settlement had its own style of folk attire,
which often showed the social status of the wearer. So,
for example, in Konavle, where the tradition is perhaps
strongest to this day, unmarried girls wore red pillbox hats
decorated with gold braid, while married women wore
stiffly starched headscarves shaped like horns, to scare
their menfolk into submission, we presume.
The costumes, mainly in white, red and black fabrics,
were decorated with embroidery, particularly on decorative
fabric breastplates with gold silk tassels on women,
and waistcoats and cummerbunds on men. Silk was
produced and coloured at home. On special occasions,
people wore fine velvets and silks richly embroidered with
gold thread, a style influenced by Dubrovnik’s excellent
trading links with the nearby Ottoman Empire. Luxurious
clothes indicated the wealth of the owner, but rich folk
lent fine clothes to poorer neighbours to ensure a good
celebration.
Jewellery has for centuries been a way for women in
particular to invest their wealth. Dubrovnik at its zenith,
had many goldsmiths and silversmiths who, in addition
to adorning the city’s churches and palaces also made
jewellery, an integral part of folk costume. You can still buy
traditional earrings in gold or silver filigree, large hoops
or drop earrings adorned with baubles. If you’d like to
take home an original Dubrovnik souvenir, you can also
find tiny backstreet workshops where women produce
tablecloths, bags, purses, pictures, slippers and more
embellished with traditional embroidery.
In Dubrovnik there are several women’s’ groups who
engage in reviving traditional crafts such as folk dress,
which originally arose to lift the spirits of victims of war.
One such group is Deša, who have their centre at Lazareti.
They are currently engaged in a project to rescue the
traditional colourful dress of Mljet island from oblivion.
On your travels around the region, you can meet many
more facets of folk culture. If you’re on Korčula island,
you may meet a procession of drummers in medieval
costume on their way to a performance of the traditional
Moreška sword dance (performed across the region in
high summer). And if you’re lucky enough to be on distant
Lastovo in the two days before Ash Wednesday, you’ll see
the Poklad festival, eagerly awaited every year by the islanders,
and a riot of fun, celebrating the salvation of the
island from attack by Catalan pirates in 1483. The men
dress in scarlet traditional costumes with embroidered
sashes and hats decked with more flowers than Ladies
Day at Ascot – a truly unique experience!
Summer 2008
59