Dubrovnik After Dark
This past week I was lucky enough to take a ghost tour with Haunted Dubrovnik. Marija was a fantastic tour guide and I leaned in on every word she said. She offers three different tours on different nights, and I took the ”Ghosts and Mysteries” tour. There were only six of us, the small intimate group lending itself to the spooky atmosphere. There were dark, steep, and narrow stairways. There was a cemetery. There are very old, dark, crumbling buildings. Marija was adorned in black, leading us by lantern through the cobblestone streets. All contributed to the perfect recipe for a ghost tour. Around each and every corner, the air felt heavy with a presence lurking in the shadows.
Dubrovnik is the pearl of Adriatic. The city with 7 hills and numerous churches, monasteries, palaces and towers on its territory has been attracting tourists from all over the world for a long time. Dubrovnik was destroyed by an earthquake in 1667. It was rebuilt in a Baroque style and has become one of the most famous Mediterranean destinations for tourists to visit. Dubrovnik is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its rich history and architecture. Dubrovnik is also called the “city under siege” because it was attacked by the Turks in 1453 and again by the Serbs in 1991. Despite these unfortunate events, throughout its history Dubrovnik managed to preserve its identity as a center of culture. But it’s also no surprise that the city has some ghosts….now that you’ve finished throwing your hands up in shock, let’s talk a little bit more about said ghosts. Ghosts are projections from another plane of existence—the astral plane—that exist beyond time and space as we know it, but still have access to this one through portals. We took a glimpse through those portals, right here in stunningly magical and beautiful Dubrovnik.
Our tour met at Boninovo, where the padlocks of love are hanging, with a beautiful view of the open sea. The story here is that this cliff was once a common place for suicide. By placing a lock here, and throwing the key into the sea below, this served as an alternative to jumping over the edge. Marija told us that it is working, as there have been fewer suicides.
Boninovo is also where the main cemetery of the city is located and near the cemetery, there is one intriguing palace from the 16th century reported to be haunted. We first learned the tragic tale of Marija Glavic, who died at the tender age of 19. Her tomb greets us at the entrance of the cemetery.
We also learned that the church in the back of the cemetery used to be a brothel. As we walked beyond the graveyard, we came upon a dark gated area which houses a crumbling library and some old buildings, deemed unworthy of repair, and left to rot: Palace Skocibuha. Housed here are several structures. The library still remains open, but you cannot go inside. Instead your items are fetched for you. The area is out of sight, out of mind, and there are no immediate plans to restore or preserve the area. Creepy things go on here. Objects move. Noises are heard. Other unexplained phenomenons plague the area.
Gradac Park was our next stop. We walked through the dark park and up an uneven stairway to an area infamous for executions. Marija shared the story of the Babaroga. As the story goes, the Babaroga is creature known among Southern Slavs, represented as very ugly, hunchbacked old woman with a horn on her head, who lives in a dark cave. According to folktales, the Babaroga likes to steal naughty children and to bring them to her lair and kill them and eat them. Not only is Gradac Park haunted by the Babaroga, but also small children ghosts. I can’t remember what they are called, but according to folklore and stories that I found, these small nymph-like child ghosts may have been known as Nav or Rusalka. Here in the park, Marija also shared the story of a creepy, ghostly candlelit processional, but I won’t spoil the creepy details, nor the surprise at the end. What’s more disturbing than anything else though, is what happens when you go looking for these phantoms yourself: You’ll see lights flickering through trees as if someone had lit torches ahead down into the darkness, but then suddenly those lights vanish just before reaching them.
We next visited the old hospital, which is now part of the University Of Dubrovnik campus, and the location where the quarantine used to be. We briefly also visited a former radio station that Marija has been fortunate enough to explore inside. This building was once the home of Marija Glavic, who we learned about earlier in our tour. She perished in a fire, and died at 6 AM. There is an old clock still in there, that just happened to stop at 6 AM. Coincidence? Maybe. But there seems to be an association with the number six in several different other ways, as well.
We wrapped things up at Pile Gate. Pile is considered a suburb, which is adorned with beautiful forts of St. Lawrence and Bokar, known to once serve as prisons in the past.
We ended our tour right outside the walled city, by the fountain with the nymph and a satyr. This is the beginning spot for many tours, but the ending spot for ours. My next visit cannot come soon enough and I hope to take another of Marija’s tours. She truly has an outstanding gift for story telling, and I continue to think about our ethereal evening of dark and creepy tales.
