The Seagull of Cavtat

You walk down the Cavtat boardwalk in the afternoon... As you reach the end of the boardwalk, sun closes to horizon. This is the best time of day for stroll around Rat peninsula. But can you make it to other side of the peninsula with sun still being above horizon? How long does that stroll take? Do you have time for a swim in sea by Kamen Mali? In order to provide you with the best answers to these (and maybe other) questions, I took the stroll around Rat.

Little stroll around Rat

The easy stroll takes about thirty minutes. I am sure that you noticed that detour near the top of peninsula. It looks as I made wrong turn and came back on right track... I am going to write about that later. But first things first. The title.

There is one special seagull on Rat. The seagull is allways by the path and goes nowhere. It spred wings as in flight and stands there. You have to be very careful in order not to miss it!

Some say that the seagull appeared by chance as stone was broken. Other say that it is carved in stone by someone. Whether coincidence or not, the nearby islands Mrkan, Bobara and Supetar is ornithological reserve where caspian gull nests. Under the photo I marked GPS position to help you find it.

42.58584605555556,18.21147138888889

Now, back to that detour I made.

On that spot there is a building from the first century which might be Roman villa. Archaeological investigations carried out from 1984. to 1987. revealed that the building was used until late antiquity. It seems that the archaeological site is slowly being forgotten after 1987 because now you can feel like a true Indiana Jones, while treading through tall grass and weeds as you search for the remains of the Roman villa. You just have to stride very carefully so as not to fall into old Roman cistern and hurt yourself.

Indiana Jones in Cavtat

I suggest you to slowly continue your stroll around peninsula until you come to Cavtat again. There are few more things to see on this small peninsula. But... Soon's going to be dark. I'm not a coward! Just.. Even the bravest one are more comfortable visiting that place during daylight! No, I'm not talking about cemetery. By the way, it's too late. 22:32. I am afraid even to mention it. I'll write about ut next time...

Cavtatski galeb

Šetate cavtatskom rivom poslijepodne. Dolazite do kraja rive, a sunce se primiče obzoru. Najbolje vrijeme za prošetati oko poluotoka Rata. Hoćete li stići obići poluotok dok još ima sunca? Koliko ima još za hodati? Stigne li se još okupati na Kamenu Malom? Kako bih vam najbolje odgovorio na ta (i možda još koje) pitanja, prošetao sam se oko Rata.

Šetnjica oko Rata

Lagana šetnja traje tridesetak minuta. Sigurno će vam u oko upasti ono neko krivudanje pri vrhu poluotoka. Kao da sam krivo skrenuo, pa se vratio... O tome ću malo kasnije. Idemo redom. Od početka. Od naslova.

Postoji na Ratu jedan galeb. Stoji kraj staze i nikako da se makne od tamo. Raširio krila kao u letu i stoji tamo. Morate dobro paziti da vam ne promakne! Kažu da se galeb pojavio slučajno dok su lomili kamen. Tako kažu jedni. Drugi kažu ako je to netko sigurno uklesao u kamen. Bilo to slučajno, ili ne, zanimljivo je da su obližnji otoci Mrkan, Bobara i Supetar ornitološki rezervat u kojem se gnijezdi galeb klaukavac. Kako biste ga lakše našli, ispod fotografije sam zapisao koordinate.

42.58584605555556,18.21147138888889

Sad je došlo na red ono skretanje s puta, detour.

Na tom mjestu se nalazi zgrada iz I. stoljeća koja bi mogla biti rimska vila. Od 1984. do 1987. su se vršila arheološka istraživanja koja su otkrila kako se zgrada koristila sve do kasne antike. Čini se kako od završetka istraživanja taj arheološki lokalitet polako pada u zaborav, jer danas se možete osjećati kao pravi Indiana Jones dok gazeći kroz visoku travu i korov tražite ostatke rimske vile. Samo morate vrlo oprezno koračati kako ne biste upali u cisternu u kojoj su stari Rimljani držali vodu i ozlijedili se.

Indiana Jones u Cavtatu

Predlažem polako nastaviti šetnju poluotokom dok se ne dođe opet do Cavtata. Ima još par stvari za vidjeti na tom malom polutočiću. Samo... Uskoro će noć. Nisam kukavica! Nego... Ma i najhrabrijima je nekako ugodnije posjetiti to mjesto danju! Ne. Ne pričam o groblju. Sad je jako kasno. 3:32 Strah me i spomenuti. Drugi put...