The year 2024 marks several events significant for the historical and cultural memory of the city of Dubrovnik. It commemorates the 45th anniversary of the inscription of the Old City of Dubrovnik on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the 15th anniversary of the inclusion of the Festivity of St. Blaise on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the inclusion of archival funds from the period of the Dubrovnik Republic on the Memory of the World Register in November of last year. These inscriptions make Dubrovnik one of the rare cities in the world whose material and intangible cultural assets have earned the status of universal heritage value. The historical core of Dubrovnik was among the first to be inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979, as a unique achievement of medieval architecture and urbanism, a masterpiece of human creativity, a complex of extraordinary value that meets the conditions of authenticity and integrity of a place of universal value.
Three decades ago, in 2009, the Festivity of St. Blaise was declared as an intangible heritage of humanity. The Festivity of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, has, in its continuous historical duration of over a thousand years, maintained its traditional and distinctive features and excellence of expression, spiritually connecting material and intangible heritage. With the inclusion of the Festivity of St. Blaise on the UNESCO list, the entire intangible cultural heritage of Dubrovnik has been further valued, promoted, and strengthened.
Finally, in November of last year, archival funds from the period of the Dubrovnik Republic were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. These important seventy-five archival funds, preserved in the State Archives in Dubrovnik, represent a precious historical source for the detailed study of Dubrovnik’s past. The continuity and quantity of preserved material, its age and value, make the archive of the Dubrovnik Republic one of the richest in this part of Europe.
With the aim of commemorating these important dates, the City Council of Dubrovnik has declared the year 2024 as the ” The Year of UNESCO World Heritage in Dubrovnik” in the City of Dubrovnik. A rich cultural, scientific, and educational program of the anniversary year testifies to the universal value of Dubrovnik’s cultural heritage, as well as the importance of its protection and preservation for future generations. This heritage is offered by the relatively small Dubrovnik community as its specific response to contemporary social trends, explaining its connection to the past, expressing its sense of identity and continuity, but also belonging to the world.
