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RAGUSA (Serbo-Croatian Dubrovnik)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 817 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RAGUSA (Serbo-Croatian Dubrovnik) , an episcopal See also:city, and the centre of an administrative See also:district in See also:Dalmatia, See also:Austria. Pop. (1900) of See also:town and See also:commune, 13,174, including a See also:garrison of 1122. Its situation and its undisturbed See also:atmosphere of antiquity combine to make Ragusa by far the most picturesque city on the Dalmatian See also:coast. It occupies a See also:ridge or promontory, which juts out into the Adriatic See also:Sea, under the See also:bare See also:limestone See also:mass of See also:Monte Sergio. Its seaward fortifications rise directly from the See also:water's edge, one fort, on the See also:north See also:mole, See also:standing boldly on a tall See also:rock almost isolated by a little inlet of the Adriatic. On the landward See also:side a massive See also:round See also:tower dominates the city from a still higher See also:eminence. Beyond the walls and the deep See also:moat, especially on the northward side towards the See also:port of Gravosa, are many pleasant villas; surrounded by gardens in which the See also:aloe, See also:palm and See also:cypress are conspicuous among a number of flowering trees and shrubs. The See also:island of See also:Lacroma lies less than See also:half a mile to the See also:south. Between the seaward ridge and the'See also:mountain, the Stradone, or See also:main See also:street, runs along a narrow valley which, until the 13th See also:century, was a marshy channel, dividing the Latin island of Ragusa from the See also:Slavonic See also:settlement of Dubrovnik, on the See also:lower slopes of Monte Sergio. Parallel to the Stradone, on the north, is the Prijeki, a See also:long, very narrow street, flanked by tall houses with overhanging balconies, and greatly resembling a Venetian See also:alley. Despite the havoc wrought by See also:earthquake in 1667, the whole city is See also:rich in antiquarian See also:interest.

It possesses one See also:

church, of the See also:Byzantine See also:period, which is mentioned in 13th-century documents as even then of See also:great See also:age. Two stately convents of the 14th century stand at the ends of the city; for the See also:Franciscans were set to guard the western See also:gate, or Porta See also:Pile, against the hostile Slays, while the See also:Dominicans kept the eastern gate, or Porta Ploce. The Franciscan See also:cloister is a See also:fine specimen of See also:late Romanesque; that of the Dominicans is hardly inferior, though of later date. The Dominican church is approached by a sloping flagged See also:lane, having on one side a beautifully ornamented See also:balustrade of the 18th century. Another 14th-century See also:building is the Sponza, or See also:custom-See also:house, from which the See also:state derived its See also:principal See also:revenue. A See also:fountain and a curious See also:clock-tower in the Piazza, which terminates the Stradone towards the See also:east, were erected by Onofrio, the architect and engineer whose See also:aqueduct, built about 1440, supplied Ragusa with water from the neighbouring hills. The See also:Rector's See also:Palace, another noteworthy example of late Romanesque, combined with Venetian See also:Gothic, is one of the masterpieces of Dalmatian See also:architecture. It has a fine See also:facade of six See also:arches, and the capitals of the supporting pillars are very curiously carved. Especially interesting is the figure of See also:Aesculapius, whose traditional birthplace was Epidaurum or See also:Epidaurus, the See also:parent city of Ragusa. The See also:cathedral See also:dates from the 18th century; and to the same period belongs another church, rebuilt after a See also:fire, but originally erected as a votive offering after the pestilence of 1348, and dedicated to See also:San Biagio (St Blaize), the See also:patron of Ragusa, whose name and effigy continually appear on coins and buildings. Among many fine pieces of jewellers' See also:work preserved in the ecclesiastical treasuries may be mentioned the See also:silver statuette of San Biagio, and the reliquary which contains his See also:skull—a 17th-century See also:casket in See also:filigree and enamels with Byzantine medallions of the 11th or 12th century. The See also:harbour of Ragusa, once one of the See also:chief ports of See also:southern See also:Europe, is too small for See also:modern needs; but Gravosa (Gruz), a See also:village at the mouth of the See also:river Ombla, on the north, is a steamship station and communicates by See also:rail with Herzegovina and the Bocche di See also:Cattaro.

Ragusa has thus some transit See also:

trade with the interior. Its See also:industries include the manufacture of See also:liqueurs, oil, See also:silk and See also:leather; but See also:Malmsey, its famous See also:wine, could no longer be produced after the See also:vine-disease of 1852. See also:History.—The name Ragusa is of uncertain origin. See also:Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in the loth century, connects its See also:early See also:form, Lausa, with Xaii, a " precipice." See also:Jirecek dissents from this view, and from the See also:common See also:opinion that Dubrovnikis derived from the Slavonic dubrava, " woody." The city first became prominent during the 7th century. In 639 and 656 the flourishing Latin communities of Salona and Epidaurum were destroyed by the See also:Avars, and the island rock of Ragusa was colonized by the survivors. Tradition identifies Epidaurum, whence the See also:majority came, with the neighbouring village of Ragusavecchia; but some historians, including Gelcich, See also:place it on the shores of the Bocche di Cattaro. Both sites show signs of See also:Roman occupation. A See also:colony of Slays soon joined the Latin settlers at Ragusa, and thus, from an early date, the city formed a See also:link between two great civilizations (see See also:VLACHS). In the 9th century it is said to have repulsed the See also:Saracens; in the loth it defended itself against the Narentine pirates, and See also:Simeon, See also:tsar of the Bulgarians. Some writers consider that it submitted to See also:Venice in 998, with the See also:rest of Dalmatia; but this is generally denied by the native historians. During the rlth century an enforced See also:alliance with the See also:Normans See also:drew the See also:republic into See also:war with Venice and See also:Byzantium; and in the 12th century it was attacked by the Bosnians and Serbs. From 1205 to 1358 it acknowledged Venetian See also:suzerainty; its chief See also:magistrate was the Venetian See also:count; and its archbishops, who wielded much See also:political See also:influence, were often Venetian nominees.

The constitution took shape during this period, and the first See also:

statute-See also:book was published in 1272. Only See also:patricians could hold See also:office in the See also:senate, See also:grand See also:council and lesser council, three bodies which shared the work of See also:government with the count, or, after 1358, the rector. The See also:ancient popular See also:assembly was almost obsolete before the 14th century. Ragusan policy was usually peaceful, and disputes with other nations were frequently arranged by a See also:system of See also:arbitration called stanicum. To refugees of all nations, even to those who had been its own See also:bitter foes, the city afforded See also:asylum; and by means of treaty and See also:tribute it worked its way to a position of See also:mercantile See also:power which Europe could hardly parallel. It was conveniently situated at the seaward end of a great trade route, which bifurcated at Plevlje to Byzantium and the See also:Danube. A compact with the See also:Turks, made in 1370 and renewed in the next century, saved Ragusa from the See also:fate of its more powerful neighbours, See also:Servia and Byzantium, besides enabling the Ragusan caravans to penetrate into See also:Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Servia, See also:Bulgaria and See also:Rumania. From 1358 to 1526 the republic was a See also:vassal state of Hungary, and no longer controlled by its greatest commercial See also:rival. It acquired, among other territories, the important See also:ship-building and See also:salt-producing centre Stagno Grande (Ston Veliki), on the promontory of Sabbioncello; and from 1413 to 1416 it held the islands of See also:Curzola, Brazza and See also:Lesina by See also:lease from Hungary. Mean-while, Ragusan vessels were known not only in See also:Italy, See also:Sicily, See also:Spain, See also:Greece, the See also:Levant and See also:Egypt, but in the more See also:northern parts of Europe. The See also:English See also:language retains in the word " See also:argosy " a See also:reminiscence of the carracks of Ragusa, long known to Englishmen as Argouse, Argusa or Aragosa. In the 16th century the Ragusan merchants went even to See also:India and See also:America, but they were unable to compete with their rivals from western Europe.

Many of their See also:

seamen took service with Spain; and twelve of their finest See also:ships were lost with the Invincible See also:Armada in 1588. After 1526 the downfall of Hungary See also:left Ragusa See also:free; and about this See also:time a great development of See also:art and literature, begun in the 15th century and continued into the 17th, earned for the city its See also:title of the " South Slavonic See also:Athens." (See SERVIA, Literature.) The earthquake of 1667, which had been preceded by lesser shocks in 1520, 1521, 1536 and 2639, destroyed a considerable portion of the city, and killed about one-fifth of the inhabitants. Only during the See also:Napoleonic See also:wars did the republic regain its prosperity. From 1800 to 1805 it was the See also:sole Mediterranean state remaining neutral, and thus it secured a very large See also:share of the carrying trade. In 2805, however, it was seized by the See also:French; See also:Napoleon deprived it of See also:independence; and in 1814 it was annexed to Austria. See L. See also:Villari, The Republic of Ragusa (See also:London, 1904), for a thorough description and history, with a full bibliography. T. G. See also:Jackson, Dalmatia, the Quarnero and See also:Istria (See also:Oxford, 1887), gives the best See also:account of Ragusan architecture and antiquities. The most accurate native history is G. Gelcich (Gelcic), Dello Sviluppo civile di Ragusa (Ragusa, 1884).

The course of Ragusan trade may be studied in C J. Jirecek, See also:

Die Handelsstrassen and Bergwerke von Serbien, &c. (See also:Prague, 1879) ; and Heyd, Histoire du See also:commerce du Levant au moyen age (See also:Leipzig, 1885).

End of Article: RAGUSA (Serbo-Croatian Dubrovnik)

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