CAVTAT

CAVTAT (42° 35'N; 18° 13'E), town (pop. 1,930 in 1991) and small harbour with a quayed shore situated in a well-protected cove about 18 miles SE of Dubrovnik.

Approach: Landmarks: the white mausoleum surmounted by a cupola on the summit of the Sv Rok hillock (elevation 42 m). Navigational marks include the round tower on a concrete base painted in red and black stripes, topped by two black spheres exhibiting a white light on the shoal Seka vela and the white round tower with a column (sector light) on the NE entrance point.

When entering harbour care should be taken to avoid two shoal patches fronting the entrance Seka vela (3.7 m) and Seka mala (3 m); Seka vela is marked by the black-red-black striped tower topped by two black spheres. SE of the Sustjepan point there is a rock and a shoal (9.3 m) of the same name. The white sector of the lights on the NE and SW entrance points covers the safe passage, while the red and the green sectors cover the off-lying dangers.

Mooring: The harbour affords shelter from the sirocco and the bora. With NW and W winds an uncomfortable surge develops inside the harbour and yachts are recommended to leave under such conditions; the occurrence of this surge (ses) is a characteristic feature of this harbour. Yachts can moor at the quay in the E part of the harbour (depths 1.5 4.7 m). A good anchorage ground affording shelter from E and SE winds is situated in the S part of the harbour (depths 1020 m). An alternate anchorage is situated under the NE shore of the Sustjepan peninsula. During NW winds it is advisable to berth in front of the church using the four-point moor. Yachts can also anchor in the middle of Tiha bay (depths 68 m), NE of Cavtat (Bay of Zupa), as well as in its W part (with lines secured ashore).

Facilities: Harbour master's branch office, post office, medical service, chemist's, hotels of all categories, and various touristic objects. Provisions at local shops, water from the hydrant on the waterfront. Fuel at the pump E of town.

Sights: Remains of defence wall (1461), remains of Roman thermal baths, aqueduct, inscriptions; the Rector's residence (155558, housing a library, archives, a museum collection, a graphic arts collection assembled by the scientist Baldo Bogisic, and a lapidarium). The churches: Sv Nikola (St Nicholas 1484; reconstructed 1732), Sv Vlaho (St Blaise, with adjacent Franciscan monastery from 1483). The residence of the Kaboga family. The gallery (former studio) of the painter Vlaho Bukovac. On the hillock Sv Rok above the town a cemetery with the mausoleum of the Racic family by the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (192022). Mlini (remnants of Roman buildings, summer residence of the Stay family) 7 km to the N. Konavle (a 22 km long fertile valley), known for its folklore and national costumes, which may be admired at the village of Cilipi after Sunday mass.