Ragusa (Slav. Dubrovnik), a decayed city of Dalmatia, stands on the east shore of the Adriatic, 100 miles SE. of Spalato and opposite the Gulf of Manfredonia in Italy. It is surrounded with strong walls, and has a very picturesque appearance when seen from the sea. The city seems to have been colonised by refugees from Epidanrus (now Old Ragusa, a few miles to the south-east), Salona, and other Greco-Roman towns destroyed by the Slav invaders of the Balkan peninsula. For some centuries Ragusa was a Roman outpost on the edge of the Slav states, and flourished greatly under the suzerain protection of Byzantium. Towards the end of the 12th century Ragusa was made to acknowledge the supremacy of Venice, though she retained a large share of autonomy. In 1358 Venice ceded her Dalmatian possessions to Hungary, and from that time down to the era of the Napoleonic wars Ragusa was generally accustomed to look to Hungary (i.e. the German empire) for help against her enemies, although from the beginning of the 15th century she was a free and independent republic. It was at the same time that she began to take a prominent place amongst the trading states of the Mediterranean, her prosperity being due to her position between the Christian powers and the empire of the Turks, and the privileges she enjoyed of trading freely with the subjects of the sultan. Her 'argosics' (i.e. 'vessels of Ragusa') traded as far as the Baltic; and a contingent joined the great Armada when it set sail for the invasion of England. Ragusa was the home from the middle of the 15th century of a remarkable literary movement, stimulated by the Renaissance (see SERVIA). During the course of the Napoleonic wars the French entered the city in 1805; this led the Russians to bombard the place. But in 1808 Napoleon declared the republic of Ragusa to be at an end, and in the following year incorporated it in the kingdom of Illyria. Since 1814, like the rest of the Dalmatian seaboard, it has belonged to Austria. Ragusa had, however, long before this declined from her former greatness. Though spared the attacks of foreign foes, she suffered repeatedly from fires, plagues, and earthquakes. The earthquake of 1667 was particularly disastrous. Yet Ragusa still contains several striking and interesting buildings, chief amongst them the palace of the rectors (chief-magistrates), built in the Gothic and Classic Renaissance styles between 1435 and 1464; the custom-house and mint, dating from before 1312 and finished in 1520; the Dominican church (1306) and monastery (1348), the former containing a picture by Titian; the Franciscan church and monastery (1317); the church of St Biagio (Blaise), the patron saint of the town, built in 1348-52, but rebuilt in 1715; and the churches of San Salvatore and Alle Dancé. The old cathedral, which tradition says was founded by Richard I. of
England when on his way home from Palestine, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1667; its modern successor (1671-1713) possesses some valuable silver ornaments and curiosities. There is also a large Jesuits' church (1699-1725). The harbour is small and now sanded up. Merchandise is landed and embarked at the harbour of Gravosa, a short distance to the north. Pop. 7245.
See T. G. Jackson, Dalmatia (vol. ii. 1887), and Pypin and Spasovitch, Geschichte der slavischen Litteraturen (vol. i. Leip. 1880), where the best books are quoted.