Old City of Dubrovnik

The 'Pearl of the Adriatic' rose to become a formidable Mediterranean sea power from the 13th century, and even a devastating earthquake in 1667 could not erase its splendour. Behind its famous walls, Dubrovnik still guards palaces, monasteries, fountains and churches in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles. Shelled during the conflict of the 1990s, the old city was restored under a programme coordinated by UNESCO, which had inscribed it in 1979.