| General Description : |
Motif: Parish church of St. Nicholas CAVTAT Cavtat, situated almost in the very south of Croatia, covers the space of two peninsulas – Rat and Sustjepan – in front of which there are three uninhabited islands: Mrkan, Bobara and Supetar. On the area of Cavtat we can find traces of life originating from prehistoric times. It can be assumed that the prehistoric fortified ruined remains of a castle were situated on the highest point of the peninsula Rat, in the place of the present-day graveyard. The ancient Epidaurus was first mentioned in the year 47 B.C. as the Roman praesidium in the context of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Pliny already speaks about a settlement that had the status of colony. The name of the place is of Illyrian origin and the literal translation would mean “behind the wood” (epi = behind; dauro, deuro = wood). The findings from the ancient times are numerous, however, no systematic archaeological researches have been carried out that would more closely determine the exact position of the ancient Epidaurus and its main parts. It is assumed that the town was situated in the place of the present-day old part of Cavtat, on the southern slope of the peninsula Rat. The town was supplied with drinking water from the spring Vodovađa. The spring water was conveyed by the aqueduct stretching along the Konavle field, through the former Epidaurus ager, the municipal land, 14 to 15 kilometres in length. The trading and maritime activities of Epidaurus can be proved by as many as three ancient shipwrecks in the Cavtat sea territory, leaving rich finding places of amphorae and dolia. The material traces and written sources definitely point to the significant role of ancient Epidaurus in the life of the Roman province of Dalmatia. There are also two monuments preserved on the Cavtat area of the oriental Mithraistic cult that originate from the time from the 3rd to 4th century. The spelean sanctuary with the relief image of the god Mithras killing the bull can be found in the village Močići in Konavle in whose vicinity the Roman cohorts were accommodated in the ancient times. Another relief of Mithras, produced with lesser quality and in smaller dimensions used to be placed in the vicinity of the present-day church of St. Đurađ [St. George] while currently we can find it built into the native home of Baltazar Bogišić on the Cavtat waterfront. It was St. Jerome who at his time wrote about the life of St. Hilarius. As a matter of fact, the legend says that in the year 365 the hermit saved the population of that time from the horrible dragon Boas who lived in the cave Šipun on the peninsula Rat. He led the dragon to the opposite coast, to Mlini where the dragon was burnt and the thankful people raised a small church in this place dedicated to St. Ilar [Hilarius] that is still to be found there. According to the legend Epidaurus was destroyed by barbaric tribes – Slavs and Avars – and the fugitives from Epidaurus founded Dubrovnik. This is why one of the names for Cavtat is Ragusa vecchia, while the present-day name of Cavtat is derived from the Latin word civitas. It was never determined whether Epidaurus was destroyed by barbarians or whether its abandonment was contributed to by some natural catastrophe. The fate of Cavtat in the early Middle Ages is almost unknown to us. On the island of Mrkan in front of Cavtat there used to stand the Late Romanesque church of St. Michael built above the Late Ancient memory, and next to it there was the complex of the Benedictine monastery. The monastery was most probably built in the first half of the 11th century. In the 13th century the Benedictines abandoned it and so did the bishops of Mrkan and Trebinje in 1377. On Mrkan as well as on Bobara and Supetar there were situated lazarettos, quarantine hospitals, of the Republic of Dubrovnik. We positively know that in the 13th century Cavtat belonged to the then already strengthened Republic of Dubrovnik but that in 1301 it was lost again. Finally, after the eastern part of Konavle was bought by Sandalj Hranić in 1419, Cavtat together with the western part of Konavle was bought by the Republic of Dubrovnik from the Bosnian nobles, the Pavlović brothers in the year 1426. Since that time, all through to its fall Cavtat was a constituent part of the Republic of Dubrovnik. Owing to the fact that a refugees’ camp was planned in case of danger for the population of one part of Konavle, Cavtat was first fortified by walls with rectangular towers and town gates. In 1466 the land on the peninsula Rat was parcelled out into long strips, following probably the old Roman division. Two strips joined together were bordered by streets and tall fenced-in walls within which they started building noblemen’s houses and villas with extensive terraces and gardens. As was the custom in the Republic of Dubrovnik while appropriating new territory, after fortifying the town the building of the Franciscan monastery started in 1483 followed by the Rector’s Palace (Captain’s Palace) in the year 1555. The present-day church of St. Nicholas originates from the 15th century. With the interruption of the danger of war conflicts and thus the need for the refugees’ camp, Cavtat gradually turned into an area of pastoral, country life characteristics. In the 18th century the town was spreading and building continued from the northern side of the peninsula Rat and the Prijeko Street, the construction of the central part was intensified and various objects were built along the coastal belt. In the later era of the Republic of Dubrovnik Cavtat developed into a strong port. The next century brought the fall of the Republic of Dubrovnik (in 1806) and Cavtat found itself for a short time under the French rule to be followed by the Austrian rule. Cavtat turned into a place of exceptionally lively trade but also political life. This time created the great men of Cavtat like the politicians Miho Klaić (1829 – 1896) and Frano Supilo (1870 – 1917), the lawyer and scientist Baltazar Bogišić (1834 – 1908) and the painter of European fame, Vlaho Bukovac (1855 – 1922). In the first half of the 20th century the life of Cavtat was significantly marked by the shipbuilders’ families Račić and Banac whose villas dominate this area even today. The acquaintance of Marija Račić-Banac brought the sculptor Ivan Meštrović to Cavtat. His Mausoleum of the family Račić, a harmonious union of architecture and sculpture, nowadays rises above Cavtat on the highest point of the Rat peninsula. It was built between 1921 and 1922 in the place of the St. Rocco’s chapel. The present-day Cavtat is the administrative centre of the Konavle municipality established in the year 1993. Lucija Vuković |
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