Cavtat

The small town in the southern part of the bay of Župa, twenty kilometers south-east from Dubrovnik. It lies on the peninsula Rat. On the south-eastern part of that peninsula is the cove Tiha. Very nice climate, rich vegetation and beautiful beaches attract many visitors. Cavtat (from Latin word civitas) was founded by Illyrians. Later it was under Greek and Roman rule under the name of Epidaurum. In 47 B.C.., it was besieged by Octavianus, and as the center of the diocese it has been mentioned since 530 A.D. It was destroyed bay Avars and Slavs in the 7th century.
A part of inhabitants resettled on the small island of Lave (Dubrovnik). Since 1302, Cavtat is in the possession of the Republic of Dubrovnik. Many famous Croats were born in Cavtat: lawyer Baltazar Bogišić, painter Vlaho Bukovac, politician Frano Supilo, etc. The palace of the prince, i.e. captain, is the renaissance building from 1555 - 1558. The library of Bogišić, archive, museum collection, collection of stone monuments (two inscriptions of the Roman governor Dolabella from the first century A.D.), are located there, as well as the collection of graphics collected by Bogišić with more than 10,000 items. The baroque church of St. Nikola (in present shape since 1732) beside the paintings of the old masters, also has the paintings of Vlaho Bukovac. The church of St. Vlaho and the Franciscan monastery with renaissance cloister are from 1483. A road climbs from the church, trough the pine forest, to the top of the hill with cemetery over which dominates the mausoleum of the Račić family (architectural project and sculptures by Ivan Meštrović, 1920 - 1922). The Kaboga Palace also belongs to the times of Dubrovnik's independence. The stairway leads from the coast to the former atelier and present picture gallery of Vlaho Bukovac.