Korcula, Croatia
Morning met us south of Venice, en route to the Croatian island of Korcula, in the Adriatic Sea. Part of the Yugoslavia of Tito, after WWII, Croatia is now a separate country of the Balkans. During the morning we had our obligatory abandon ship drill, and shortly thereafter our first of a series of lectures, in this case Robyn Woodward's "Venice - a City, a Republic, an Empire". Lunch followed, and around 1500 we docked right in the City of Korcula, next to the walls of the Old City.
A series of guides took us on interesting walks in the city, during which we learned that the first inhabitants of the area and the islands were the Ilirians. The Greek were the next group of people here, who called the island Korkyra Melaina (black Korcula) because of the dense dark vegetation covering the island. The island along the years passed from the Greek to the Romans, then to the Croatians, the Venetians, and then the Croatians again. During WWII it was part of Italy, was occupied by the Germans, and then became the Democratic Republic of Yugoslavia under the Soviets.
We entered the old city by the beautiful marble bridge of "Landgate", built in 1864 for the great entrance of the emperor Franz Josef. The rest of the city was built during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, when the Venetians had it. They took great care of the city and of the walls especially, as they used it as a fort also, guarding their precious ship routes up the Adriatic to Venice. Three lovely and interesting museums are to be visited, one with originals from Leonardo da Vinci and Johan Grund, the Cathedral to St. Mark with two originals from Tintoretto. The house where Marco Polo was born also lies in the city. We had free time to visit other interesting points of the town, as well as small shops, and we all met on the ship at cocktail time, during which we had our first "recap" of the voyage. Dinner followed, with some of us staying on land for dinner in town.
Morning met us south of Venice, en route to the Croatian island of Korcula, in the Adriatic Sea. Part of the Yugoslavia of Tito, after WWII, Croatia is now a separate country of the Balkans. During the morning we had our obligatory abandon ship drill, and shortly thereafter our first of a series of lectures, in this case Robyn Woodward's "Venice - a City, a Republic, an Empire". Lunch followed, and around 1500 we docked right in the City of Korcula, next to the walls of the Old City.
A series of guides took us on interesting walks in the city, during which we learned that the first inhabitants of the area and the islands were the Ilirians. The Greek were the next group of people here, who called the island Korkyra Melaina (black Korcula) because of the dense dark vegetation covering the island. The island along the years passed from the Greek to the Romans, then to the Croatians, the Venetians, and then the Croatians again. During WWII it was part of Italy, was occupied by the Germans, and then became the Democratic Republic of Yugoslavia under the Soviets.
We entered the old city by the beautiful marble bridge of "Landgate", built in 1864 for the great entrance of the emperor Franz Josef. The rest of the city was built during the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, when the Venetians had it. They took great care of the city and of the walls especially, as they used it as a fort also, guarding their precious ship routes up the Adriatic to Venice. Three lovely and interesting museums are to be visited, one with originals from Leonardo da Vinci and Johan Grund, the Cathedral to St. Mark with two originals from Tintoretto. The house where Marco Polo was born also lies in the city. We had free time to visit other interesting points of the town, as well as small shops, and we all met on the ship at cocktail time, during which we had our first "recap" of the voyage. Dinner followed, with some of us staying on land for dinner in town.
