Once mainland and island were connected, walls rose. Dubrovnik's walls are highly visible as one approaches the city, day or night, from land or by sea. One of the strongest set of fortifications in Europe, these were never breached. The town was conquered only once, when that rascal Napoleon and his buddies were invited in to help protect the place -- and then decided to stay. Despite these formidable walls, to a large degree, Dubrovnik's best defense were the skillful diplomats who played the city-states's enemies off against each other such as the Venetians and the Turks. (Diplomacy sometimes consisted of paying tribute -- and bribes -- to each of those countries as well.) At the rear we see the Croatian coast rising up Mount Srdj. Croatia is only about 4 miles wide at this point. Over the mountain lies Bosnia and Herzegovina -- land of the Ottoman's until 1878.
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