Cavtat Waterfront and Historic Core Walk

The route begins on the harbour and the waterfront promenade, the sheltered bay between the Rat and Sustjepan peninsulas where the maritime identity of Cavtat is read at a glance — boats, stone façades, cafés and the working quays. From the waterfront the walk reaches the Church of St Nicholas, the active parish church built in the early 18th century on the site of an older church, read from the exterior as part of the streetscape and entered only when its parish life allows. A short distance away stands the Rector’s Palace, the administrative seat of the Republic of Ragusa in the town, now housing the Baltazar Bogišić Collection — its waterfront façade is read from the street, while the interior and the collection are a separate visit subject to current access. The route then threads the old lanes of the historic core, where the Roman Epidaurum layer lies beneath the later stone houses and the medieval and Ragusan fabric is read in the narrow streets themselves. The walk closes at the Franciscan Monastery and the church of Our Lady of the Snow on the waterfront, founded in 1484, where the exterior and the maritime setting of the complex are read together with the active religious life of the place. Throughout, the distinction is held between what is seen from the street and what is entered: the walk is a reading of the town, and the museum and church interiors are separate visits arranged as access allows.