Rain, storms, grey skies and a depressed population often all stem from one weather condition in Dubrovnik – a southerly wind.
The south wind, known as the jugo, is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and when it blows it tends to dump large quantities of rain all over the Dubrovnik region. And the heavy air and moisture throws most of the city into a bleak depression.
In fact, the effects are so widespread that during the time of the Republic of Dubrovnik a special law was brought in. whenever the jugo or sirocco blew no Council session or decisions or laws were allowed to take place. Quite simply the south wind, and its negative connotations for people’s health, closed down the city council.
A famous Dubrovnik author, Tereza Buconic, summed it up when she wrote “One does not even like oneself when jugo is blowing so how can a decision be made about another with such a confused mind.” Even crimes that were committed during heavy southerly winds were treated with more leniency.
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