Our Dubrovnik walking tour starts at Pile Gate, the western entrance into the Old Town. But we’re not going to enter – yet! Firstly, we’ll take a short flight of steps down into the street of the St. George chapel, to suddenly find ourselves in a sleepy, tiny inlet. In the 19th century, this was an industrial part of the town, with weavers’ and tanners’ workshops. The massive St. Lawrence Fortress looms large above us. During the days of the Republic, seven bronze cannons lay basking on the fortress. The most famous cannon had the name of the Lizard. The Lizard fell into the sea…

Street names bear witness to the City’s magnificent past

Our tour continues with us clambering up the streets to the north of the main street, Placa, commonly known as Stradun. On both sides of the windows, you’ll see the protruding stone struts with holes pierced in them, a feature of many houses here, but for what purpose? We’ll pass the miniature Church of the Transfiguration (Sigurata) which forms part of the Women’s Franciscan Monastery. As we climb, the view filtered through rubber-plant leaves opens up. Finally, we reach the highest street, Peline, whose name comes from a word for a skinner. The houses in this part of the town were once reserved for artisans, to which the street names still bear witness…