museum shop of the dubrovnik museums

14 CuLture & events
The Feast of St Blaise
Phil Newman
03.02 2012 Friday
Falling on February 3, the Feast of St Blaise (Sveti Vlaho, see
p.XY) is arguably the most important date in the Dubrovnik
calendar, bringing hordes of local people onto the streets
and showcasing a good deal of folkloric tradition.
In September 2009 the feast was included by UNESCO
on the so-called “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list, which
aims to nurture unique social rituals which have a long and
authentic history. The cult of St Blaise has been central
to Dubrovnik since the tenth century, and his feast day is
known to have been celebrated every year without a break
since at least 1190.
The festivities commence on February 2, when doves are
released in front of St Blaise’s Church by the Bishop of
Dubrovnik. The next morning a commemorative mass is
held, followed at around 11:30 by a solemn procession of
priests and locals, many wearing folk costume and waving
Easter time
If you happen to be in town at Easter, you’ll have the good
fortune to be able to sample the local foods of the season
and experience how Easter traditions are interpreted in
and around Dubrovnik. Easter eggs here are handmade
by chickens, and decorated by people with delicate motifs
in beeswax, coloured with onion skin or pine (a process
locally known as penganje). The result was an ornament
to be given as a mark of love, friendship and devotion. On
Palm Sunday people carry olive branches or intricately
woven ornaments made from palms leaves. You can learn
how to make these decorations yourself at the Easter
workshops run by the Deša humanitarian women’s group.
(See: Interactive Category)
The Sponza Palace (Palača Sponza) D-3, Svetog
Dominika 1. For many, the most romantic of Dubrovnik’s
buildings, with its gallery on Stradun and its mix of gothic
and renaissance detail, this was always a public building.
Directly facing Orlando’s column, the scene of all dramas of
public life, Sponza housed the Republic’s mint and customs
house - all the Republic’s trade passed through here. It was
built 1516-1522 according to designs by Paskoje Miličević.
Today, the graceful atrium is used as an exhibition space and
venue for recitals. A room to the left as you enter is dedicated
to the memory of fallen soldiers during the siege of Dubrovnik
1991-92 (December - April 30 Open 10:00 - 15:30. May - May
31 Open 09:00 - 21:00. Admission free). The upper galleries
were once the place where the city’s artists and intellectuals
held salons. The building also contains the Dubrovnik State
Archives, a treasure trove of documentation on the Republic.
In the gift shop on the ground floor you can buy replicas of
these historic documents; the archives themselves are mainly
here for research purposes.
large banners. The procession heads up Od Puča before
returning to the church via the Stradun, watched by packed
crowds of onlookers - many of whom come regularly from
other parts of Croatia to be here on this day. Arm and leg
reliquaries containing the bones of St Blaise are carried
among the throng, allowing the faithful to touch them as
they pass.
A fun-for-all-the-family party atmosphere takes over in the
evening of the 3rd, when locals re-enact a nineteenthcentury
open-air version of bingo known as the “tombula” in
front of the Sponza Palace. As in cheesy British bingo halls,
the caller attaches silly names to the numbers (number
77 is referred to as “ladies’ legs”), but in Dubrovnik - in
a fantastic improvement on the game of bingo as it is
played elsewhere - the losers are allowed to express their
dissatisfaction by throwing rotten eggs and oranges at
the caller.
Marin Šperanda
Dubrovnik In Your Pocket dubrovnik.inyourpocket.com