Cavtat

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, thermae and the shipwreck sites, have not yet given a complete picture of that roman settlement from the beginning of new era. The monuments from the time of early Christianity are the Mithra's sanctuaries. They are dating from the beginning of the era, and are representing the struggle between good and evil in the image of god Mithra, all represented in relief. The downfall of the Western Roman Empire and the invasion of Avars and Slavs caused the fall of Epidaurus as a seat of a diocese and its destruction. The legend says that the refugees from Epidaurus fled to the protected settlement of Laus - Lave - Ragusa from which originates Dubrovnik. For centuries Cavtat was connected to Dubrovnik by administration, trade and the freedom - loving spirit of the Dubrovnik Republic. It was a port where people from Konavle had their administrative and juridical control, where they traded, and where the masterminds like Baltazar Bogisić, Vlaho Bukovac, and Frano Supilo were born