Mrtvo More

This guide to Mrtvo More on Lokrum island near Dubrovnik opens in 1798, when the Republic of Dubrovnik forced its Benedictine monks off the island after nearly eight hundred years, selling it to raise cash as Napoleon's armies closed in. You'll hear about the monks' final night, their candlelit procession along this shoreline, and the curse they are said to have pronounced against anyone who claimed Lokrum for personal pleasure. The guide follows that curse forward through the decades, including the Archduke who later built a summer palace here. Look for the peacocks that still pace the banks of this saltwater lake today.