When the anonymous cosmographer from Ravenna pronounced in 667 that »Epitaurum id est Ragusium«, he was right only in part! True, old Ragusans considered Epitaurum, or Epidaurus, as their civitas vetus, the original site of Dubrovnik. On this site, however, Cavtat was subsequently built, so today it would be truer to say: »Epitaurum id est Cavtat.« The central older part of Cavtat, beautifully located on a hilly peninsula, is in itself an answer to the question why the remains of old Epidaurus were never found: they could not be found, because their very stones were built into the walls of Cavtat! A fine story, connected with Greek mythology offers us a legendary explanation of the history of this IIlyrian town. It tells that the Greek mythic hero Cadmus founded Thebes, and after marrying Harmonia, the daughter of Aphrodite and Ares, came to Illyria with his wife. Cadmus and Harmonia became the rulers of this IIlyriantribe, the Encheleans, leading them into a victorious battle against their enemies. The gods now transformed the couple into snakes which became Illyrian deities. According to the legend, they were buried under the Konavle mountain Snjeznica. This story which was renewed in several versions in IIlyrian Epitaurum, was also known to the Ragusans. They retold it as the myth of their own city which they were thus able to connect with Greek history and the fact that the Greeks also had a city called Epidaurus. They went so far in this belief that they even began to worship the Greek god of health Asclepius who was reputedly born in Greek Epidaurus. Confusion Epidaurus in Greece and Epidaurus near Dubrovnik (later rebuilt as Cavtat) even brought Asclepius' effigy to the capitol on the south side of the Dubrovnik Rector's Palace. The Ragusans cherished the illusion that they were descended from Greeks who came from Epidaurus in the Saronic Gulf and settled in what is today Cavtat.
Cavtat has a cave called Sipun, a geological phenomenon described by Nikola Vitov Gucetic in the 161h century. Visitors can also take a boat to the islet of Mrkan with the ruins of a Benedictine monastery. More notable, however, is one of the finest mausoleums built by Ivan Mestrovic for the Racic family, and situated on the highest point of the Cavtat peninsula. Cavtat also has a fine collection of paintings by Vlaho Bukovac, its most famous citizen, who has become the emblem of this town. It is, moreover, the native town of the notable modern Croatian politician Frano Supilo. Nevertheless, lovers of literature should know that it houses the famous collection of Baltazar Bogisic. This author of legal treatises and book collector without rivals in our entire history was born in Cavtat in 1834. He completed his secondary education in Venice, studied in Giessen and Vienna, was employed at the Vienna Court Library, was a law professor ilJ Odessa, and for six years the minister of justice of the state of Montenegro, spending the last years of his life as a private tutor in Paris. The collection of books and archive materials compiled by this outstanding bibliophile from Cavtat is of national significance. It is located at the Rector's Palace of Cavtat and consists of 20 000 books. Among them 66 incunabule, most of them Slavic either by printing or authorship. Of special interest for the study of older Croatian literature and folklore is Bogisic's famous collection of 154 manuscripts divided into twelve sections. His collection of letters numbers mo¬re than 1000 correspondents. On one wall of Bogisic's library hangs a very interesting painting by Vlaho Bukovac, which is of particular interest for the cultural history of Cavtat It is the scene of the Cavtat carnival, numbering more than 80 portraits of local people. This should not surprise us, for the carnival here has been celebrated for many centuries, and still is today. Close to the Rector's Palace is the church of St Nicholas which contains a number of fine paintings. Lovers of literature will be interested to know that Gledevic's Mystery af the Birth af Our Lard (Poradenje Gaspadinava) was performed twice in this church at Christmas 1703.

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