By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Sewage workers discovered hidden channels and secret passages from the time of the Dubrovnik Republic.
After two and a half years of work, the renovation of the more than 500-year-old sewage system beneath the historic center of Dubrovnik, worth over one million euros, was successfully completed. Workers manually cleaned the historical canals beneath Stradun and the city walls in dangerous conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 50°C and risks from landslides, infections, and gas poisoning.
In the underground of the historic city, workers discovered not only concerning amounts of waste but also hidden channels and secret passages from the time of the Dubrovnik Republic. These findings shed new light on the extensive subterranean network that has been part of the city's heritage for centuries.
Dubrovnik had a sewage system as early as the 13th century, and it was well-maintained, according to Blic. The canals beneath Dubrovnik's historic core have existed in their current form since the 15th century and are part of the city's cultural heritage. For centuries, however, these canals had not been cleaned in detail.
According to the contractors, the canals were clogged almost to the top in some places. Workers faced extreme conditions as they manually removed blockages. "Over 2,100 cubic meters of that solid mass were removed, plus solid matter and soap grease, which practically had icebergs, we can call it, just a lot of a different color," explained Tonči Janković, director of Anafora, according to Blic. He added, "We found much more construction waste and a layer of 20 centimeters, which is the result of washing and repairing the city of Dubrovnik because it all came into that channel through the drain. We had to break it with a rubber," as reported by Blic.
The works were under strict supervision of conservators and the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities. The way the sewage system was built in the 15th century still fascinates experts today. "When it is viewed, when it is looked at from the inside, when all this is presented with modern technologies of 3D architectural recording and geodetic measurements, we see how smart our Dubrovnik ancestors were, how much they worked on sustainable systems," said Vedran Kosović, president of the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, according to Blic.
"The channels were filled, especially with sewage, which until 2004 went into the old city port, practically polluted and in some way endangering the environment and people's health," stated Vicko Begović, a member of the Management Board of Vodovod Dubrovnik, as reported by Jutarnji List.
The most important part of the work was successfully completed. After this, the cleaning of secondary channels will follow, but the primary focus was on restoring the main arteries of the ancient system.
