A city of southern Croatia on a promontory jutting into the Adriatic Sea. A port and popular tourist resort, it was a center of Serbo-Croatian culture and literature in medieval times. Port city, Croatia. It is situated on the southern Adriatic coast southwest of Sarajevo. Founded in the 7th century by Roman refugees, it came under Byzantine rule after the fall of Rome. It acknowledged Venetian suzerainty (1205 ?? 1358) but remained largely independent and became a mercantile power. It was known as a centre of Slavic literature and art in the 15th ?? 17th centuries. Subjugated by Napoleon I in 1808, it was passed to Austria in 1815 and to Yugoslavia in 1918. It was bombed by the Serbs (1991 ?? 92) during Croatia’s struggle for independence. The old city, enclosed by medieval city walls, contains 14th-century convents and the 15th-century Rector's Palace. Dubrovnik (d?'br??vn??k), Ital. Ragusa, city (1991 pop. 49,728), in extreme S Croatia, on a promontory of the Dalmatian coast in the Adriatic Sea. It is a port and tourist and cultural center, with some light industries. Dubrovnik was founded as Ragusium in the 7th cent. by Romans fleeing Slav incursions. Later, however, Slavic people settled in the city, which became a link between the Latin and Slavic civilizations. Ragusa became a powerful merchant republic (the term argosy derives from its name); although it was a protectorate of the Byzantine Empire until 1205, of Venice until 1358, of Hungary until 1526, and of the Ottoman Empire until 1806, it remained virtually independent until it was abolished in 1808 by Napoleon I and included in the Illyrian provs. The Congress of Vienna assigned (1815) it to Austria, and in 1918, as Dubrovnik, it was included in what became (1929) Yugoslavia. The medieval city was a center of south Slavic culture and literature. It suffered a severe earthquake in 1667 but retains much medieval architecture, notably its walls and forts, customshouse, mint, 15th-century rector's palac...