Cavtat and Konavle
Some common facts about Cavtat and Konavle region.
Cavtat is a small town on the most southern part of the Croatian Adriatic coast.
It has developed from the ancient Epidaurus on the slopes of two peninsulas: Rat and
Sustjepan. It owes its development to the geographical position in the southern Dalmatia
with the fertile valley of Konavle in its hinterland. It is from that valley that the
town was supplied with fresh water by a roman aqueduct. The archaeological researches
of the roman sanctuaries, necropolis, thermal and the shipwreck sites, have not yet
given a complete picture of that roman settlement from the beginning of new era.
Cavtat has been built on the site of
the ancient Adriatic Epidaurum; Civitas Vetus -
the predecessor of Dubrovnik. It is a mediaeval town built on the southern slopes of
the peninsula with two accessible bays. Through centuries it was built following
Dubrovnik's harmonious criteria of construction. In each historical period it generated
the authors who have created valuable works.
Cavtat is today a favorite tourist resort due to its natural beauty, a rich cultural
heritage and an excellent tourist offer. The tourists discover it with excitement and
gladly return to it.
Konavle is the most southern-east part of Dubrovnik region, a geopolitical, strategically
and economically important area. The northern part of Konavle region borders with Mount
Snjeznica towards Herzegovina and with Mount Bjelotina towards Sutorina. Along the seacoast
from Cavtat port to Molunat and peninsula Prevlaka are extended the steep Konavle cliffs.
In the middle of these uplands is situated a fertile valley.
The climate in Konavle is Mediterranean with a warm spring, a warm and rainy autumn, a
mild winter and a hot and dry summer. The characteristics of the soil are divided on the
Karst area with cavities, cracks, sink-holes and plateaus, valley with impervious soil,
and the inland rocky area between 400 and 800 m high, with 1234 m high peak Snjeznica.
Typically Mediterranean vegetation includes macchia, the evergreen woods of pines, cypresses
and oaks, while on the slopes of Snjeznica interesting mixed woods of pines, oaks, ash-trees,
elm-trees and cypresses are growing.
The villages in Konavle have developed as family communities. Rigorous patriarchal way of living
has imposed
the preservation of traditions. This concerns in particular the national costume
of Konavle, as a recognizable element of this area's identity.
For centuries Dubrovnik was ruling Konavle by restricting or stimulating the various aspects
of its development. The area was ruled by the rector trough his chancellors, vice-rectors and
headmen, who were executing the administrative, supervisory and regulatory powers well as the
defense of the territory. The traditional culture of Konavle is present in many aspects of life
from a specific culture of living and tillage to the art of embroidering.