Thanks to its geographic position, Konavle provides extremely favorable conditions for settlement. The fertile valley, the wealth of drinking water, and the mild climate, along with traffic access by land and sea, have contributed to continuous settlement since prehistoric times.
In the period of prehistory, when borders and larger associations had not yet been formed, at least in our areas, smaller parts of the country were easy to defend by positioning themselves along the nearby natural barriers. In antiquity, when the Mediterranean was ruled by the Romans, and Konavle was no exception, the colony of Epidaurus was formed where today’s Cavtat is found. In the tumultuous times of late antiquity, security was again sought in the fortified elevations, and in the Middle Ages the ethnic groups that still exist today began to develop.
All these traces of the past in the Konavle area can now be explored in more detail in the Archaeological Museum in Pridvorje. The museum contains flint tools used by the first inhabitants of Konavle, weapons and ceramics of the Illyrians who resided in the Sokol fortress, and even the money of the Illyrian ruler Ballaios about whom there is not a single written document. Since none of the previously known ancient historians mentioned him, all the conclusions about his life and rule were drawn from his money, and the very fact that Ballaios was able to forge large amounts of money indicates the great wealth and power at his disposal.
However, one of the most important finds exhibited in the Archaeological Museum is a fragment of a Glagolitic inscription. The creator of the Konavle Glagolitic Inscription used a fragment of a Roman marble inscription on which the Latin capital letters VL are visible and subsequently engraved the so-called crutch cross (or cross potent) and carved a Glagolitic inscription on the back of that fragment in the late 11th or early 12th century. We cannot know exactly what is written on the inscription because only a fragment remains, but one of the theories claims that it is a lay man’s inscription who boasts of his ability to carve letters without a template, hinting at his knowledge of the Glagolitic script: “I carved it blindly.”
The museum was opened to the public in 2017, in the western wing of the Franciscan Monastery of St. Blaise in Pridvorje. The monastery itself has a story of its own and a symbolic meaning of the positioning of the museum. Namely, it was built in the middle of the 15th century, after the Dubrovnik Republic bought the area of Konavle. From that moment onwards, until the Homeland War, next to the Rector’s Palace, the Franciscan Monastery of St. Blaise became the most important social center of Konavle.
The Franciscan Monastery of St. Blaise is a typical example of a monastery, with a central cloister enclosed by the residential-commercial part, and the church. In the church there are numerous works of art such as the altarpiece painted by Celestin Medović and the miraculous Gothic crucifix from the island of Daksa, near Dubrovnik. The cloister contains the largest number of old tombstones from Konavle, made in the period from 1525 to 1801.
As of 2020, there is also a BLUEMED center in the northern part of the cloister. The center promotes sustainable diving tourism, but also awareness of our underwater world. Namely, in the seabed in front of Cavtat you can still visit two ancient shipwrecks. They are located at a depth of 25 meters, so only experienced divers can embark on this venture. However, this problem has been overcome by the BLUEMED center, which uses virtual reality glasses that enable a virtual dive into the underwater world and the past of Cavtat. In addition to these two shipwrecks, visitors can dive digitally into the seas of Greece and Italy, at a total of six other sites. Finally, in addition to the archaeological story, the center contains information about the flora and fauna of these underwater sites. The last room represents an audio-visual installation of the underwater world with Lamboglia 2 type amphorae.
The understanding of contemporary Konavle is impossible without the knowledge of the complete historical development and social relations in this extremely active area. Therefore, the aim of this new museum is to explore and protect the monumental heritage, to present it to the local community and visitors, and thus further enrich the cultural offerings of Konavle.
By: Jelena Beželj