Festivity of Saint Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik, started last night by the amazing concert of vocal groups in the Marin Drzic Theatre. Vocal groups that performed are Karaka, Kurenat, Staglin, Ostro, Cavtajke, Rikordo, Subrenum, Kase and vocal group of the folklor ensemble Lindo.

This event was also an occasion to mark 450 years of death of the famous Dubrovnik artist Marin Drzic, through dramatic reading of his opus, performed by the theatre company Kolarin.

Concert is traditionally humanitarian, dedicated to the restoration of the church of St. Blaise.

Don't miss the whole program of the most important Dubrovnik Festivity here.

                                                                                              Photos by Zeljko Tutnjevic and Niksa Duper 

The Daily Telegraph, one of the most popular British newspapers has given high ranks to the Navis Hotel in Opatija, Istria.

The newspaper's reporter, journalist and travel writer Rudolph Abraham praised the newly built hotel in Opatija by saying that the Navis Hotel was surely one of the best hotels he had visited in the last twenty years since he had started touring hotels and associated facilities throughout Croatia.

The reporter was fascinated by the hotel's architecture and design details as well as by a unique location. He also wrote that the Navis Hotel was a modern designed object with luxuriously decorated rooms and was built on steep rocks in the Preluk bay which is located near the fishing village of Volosko.

The hotel was also highly ranked for the offer and service.

Tonight is the Night of Museums, a special manifestation organized by Croatian Museum Association since 2005. A special program is organized every year on the last Friday of the month of January from 6 pm to 1 am, with a free entrance to museums, galleries and other cultural institutions. 

On this occasion, there will be additional departures on the lines 1A Mokosica – Pile and 6 Babin Kuk – Pile at 1:25 am. The additional line 6 Babin Kuk-Pile will drive through street of Ivo Vojnovic. Full bus schedule is avaliable on this link.

If you want to know what you can see during the Night of Museums in Dubrovnik, don't miss the full program here.

During the festivity of Saint Blaise, from February 2nd to February 5th, the entrance to the Dubrovnik City Walls, Walls of Ston and Sokol Tower will be free of charge. That's a gift from Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiques and it's an unique one – to enjoy surreal beauty without spending a penny. 

They also joined the Night of Museums that is tonight, on Friday 27th. From 6 pm to 11 pm it's possible to visit the attractive archaeological site and the Museum of archaeological finds of the old foundry of cannons from the 16th century. You can enter it rough the playground that's beneath the fortress MincetaThis late medieval and Modern foundry is one of the rare preserved buildings of its kind and accommodation within the city walls makes it unique without comparative examples in Europe. Organized and professional guided tours will happen every 20 minutes. See the full program of the Night of Museums here.

One of the most important festivites in Dubrovnik, festivity of our patron saint - Saint Blaise, has started last night, on Thursday January 26th with the Festivity of vocal groups in Marin Drzic Theatre. But that's just a first in a series of beautiful and fun events that are going to happen in the next couple of days. We bring you the full program, yours is just to enjoy it: 

Friday, 27 January 2017
9:00 pm Dubrovnik Rock Parade
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik and Klub Lazareti
Lazareti
Saturday, 28 January 2017
8:00 pm ˝Four Tenors˝ gala concert
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik
Lacroma
Sunday, 29 January 2017
7:00 pm Concert: ˝Dubrovnik Opera Divas˝
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik
Church of St. Blaise
Monday, 30 January 2017
6:00 pm Presentation of book about the worship of St. Blaise in visual representations
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik
Hall of Mirrors
6:00 pm Three days of holy mass for the Saint Blaise Festivity
Led by the Very Reverend Josip Barišić, Pastor of Čilipi Parish
Church of St. Blaise
7:30 pm Art exhibition ˝Little St. Blaise by Josip Ivanović˝
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik
Marin Držić Theatre
Tuesday, 31 January 2017

6:00 pm Three days of holy mass for the Saint Blaise Festivity 

Led by the Very Reverend Josip Barišić, Pastor of Čilipi Parish
Church of St. Blaise
7:30 pm 4th scientific conference ˝Ahead of the Festivity˝ on the topic: ˝The Economy of Salvation – the Salvation of the Economy˝
Organised by: ˝Christian Social Circles˝ Association, Zagreb
John Paul II Hall
Wednesday, 1 February 2017
11:00 am Workshop on traditional dishes for the St. Blaise Festivity
Organised by: Festa Dubrovnik, the DEŠA Association – Dubrovnik, and the Tourism and Hospitality School
Restoran Mimoza
11:00 am Presentation of the magazine Welcome to Dubrovnik no. 29 for 2017
Organised by: Dubrovnik Tourist Board
Friars Minor Monastery
5:00 pm Theatrical storytelling for children ˝Libro of St. Blaise˝
Teatar Lero
Lazareti
6:00 pm Three days of holy mass for the Saint Blaise Festivity
Led by the Very Reverend Josip Barišić, Pastor of Čilipi Parish
Church of St. Blaise
7:00 pm Exhibition of paintings by the artist Elias Ayoub ˝Love in Damascus˝
Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik
8:00 pm Concert for the Festivity of St. Blaise and the Day of the City of Dubrovnik
Performed and organised by: the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra (concert organised in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Croatian - Austrian Society of Dubrovnik)
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Thursday, 2 February 2017 – CANDLEMAS
8:00 Tribute to the fallen defenders of the City of Dubrovnik
Organised by: City of Dubrovnik
Memorial at the Boninovo Cemetery
10:00 am – 4:00 pm Humanitarian event ˝Bitter Orange Days˝
Organised by: DEŠA Association – Dubrovnik and Dubrovačka naranča (Eng: ˝Dubrovnik Orange˝)
Luža
12:00 pm Presentation of the preliminary program of the 68th Dubrovnik Summer Festival
Organised by: Dubrovnik Summer Festival
Festival Palace
1:00 pm Wine Festivity
Festa Dubrovnik, Chamber of Economy of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, and Chamber of Trades and Crafts of Dubrovnik-Neretva County
City Café (Gradska kavana)
2:45 pm Parade of the City of Dubrovnik Marching Band and performance with the Cathedral Choir
Stradun
3:00 pm The Banner of St. Blaise gathers the city standards
In front of the Church of St. Blaise
3:30 pm Opening Ceremony of the Festivity of St. Blaise
In front of the Church of St. Blaise
5:30 pm Celebratory Evening Mass and Concert
Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
7:00 pm ˝Candlemas Dinner˝
Fort Revelin
Friday, 3 February 2017 - SAINT BLAISE FESTIVITY DAY
6:00 am Patriotic hymn with the ringing of the city bells, music, and muskets
Platoon of Dubrovnik Musketeers
Great Pier in the Old City harbour
7:00 am First mass in the Church of St. Blaise, parade of Grand Masters, musketeers, city band, and standard bearers to Ploče
Church of St. Blaise
- the city standards are joined by banners from the east of the City, and together they go to Pile to wait for the banners from the west side of the City
- at Pile the banners are waved in honour of St. Blaise and they enter the City; heading towards the Cathedral the standard bearers salute the patron saint’s church
7:00 am Patriotic Hymn
Organised by: the City of Dubrovnik Marching Band
Stradun
10:00 am CELEBRATORY LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Led by His Excellency Egidije Ivan Živković, Ph.D., the Bishop of Eisenstadt in Burgenland, Austria
In front of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Mass is followed by the CELEBRATORY PROCESSION THROUGH THE CITY
1:00 pm Banquet in honour of St. Blaise (traditional dirty macaroni, doughnuts, and a glass of wine)
Luža
3:30 pm Banner men greet the Cathedral, bishops and Grand Masters
In front of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
4:00 pm Tombola (Eng: ˝raffle˝)
In front of Luža
Organised by Dubrovnik Tourist Board
Saturday, 4 February 2017
9:00 am X. International Chess Tournament ˝Dubrovnik Open 2017˝
Organised by: Chess Club ˝Dubrovnik˝
Hotel Petka
Sunday, 5 February 2017
8:00 am gathering of banners and pilgrims
In front of the Church of St. Blaise
and walk to Gorica
9:00 am Celebration of St. Blaise at Gorica, holy mass
Gorica of St. Blaise
12:00 pm Return of standard bearers to the City, lowering of the banner of St. Blaise, raising of the national flag, and holy mass with which the Festivity of St. Blaise for 2017 officially ends.
In front of the Church of St. Blaise

Nature is full of surprises! Today, at river Ombla grey herons were enjoying this beautiful, sunny day. These elegant birds made a perfect match with surroundings.

Grey heron with distinctive black ‘’hat’’ on their head can grow up to a meter and weighs around two kilograms. It feeds mostly on fish and frogs. In winter, when standing waters freeze, they usually search the nearest river and spend the winter there. Their breeding season begins in February and ends in late April.

Grey herons were spotted by the eye and the camera of Zeljko Tutnjevic.

Looking for a special way to spend your Friday night in Dubrovnik? Well, this is a great week for you then. Tomorrow, on Friday January 27th, manifestation Night of Museums is held all over Croatia. 

Croatian Museum Association is organizing the event Night of Museums in Croatia since 2005. A special program is organized every year on the last Friday of the month of January from 6 pm to 1 am, with free entrance to museums, galleries and other cultural institutions.
This is program of Night of Museums in Dubrovnik, feel free to pick anything you like!

NIGHT OF MUSEUMS PROGRAM
Event location: St. John’s Fortress
6:00 – 6:30 pm Guided tour through the permanent collection of the Maritime Museum
7:00 – 9:00 pm Educational workshop for children ˝Little Shipbuilders – building of wooden boats˝ (Željko Ćatić, Dubrovnik Museums)
8:00 – 8:30 pm Lecture by Aida Cvjetković, Ph.D. ˝Federiko Glavić – Benefactor, Visionary and Keeper of Tradition˝
9:00 – 9:30 pm Guided tour through the permanent collection
6:00 pm – 1:00 am Permanent collection of the Maritime Museum
Event location: Rupe Granary
6:00 – 6:30 pm Presentation of the children’s book ˝Pavle i Đivo u Rupama˝ (Aleksandra Piteša Orešković, Dubrovnik Museums)
6:30 – 7:00 pm Guided tour through the permanent collection of the Ethnographic Museum
7:00 – 7:45 pm Workshop on making jewellery and lecture for children about dress and clothing in the Dubrovnik region (Anamarija Bezek and Barbara Margaretić; Dubrovnik Museums, Ethnographic Museum)
20:00 – 20:45 pm Literary – musical staging of ˝Lullabies˝ (˝Uspavanke˝) with a presentation of night shirts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Heritage Association and Branka Hajdić; Dubrovnik Museums, Ethnographic Museum)
9:00 – 9:30 pm Lecture about the Rupe Granary (Ivica Kipre; Dubrovnik Museums, Ethnographic Museum)
9:30 – 10:00 pm Lecture ˝Daguerreotypes in Dubrovnik˝ (Marina Filipović, Dubrovnik Museums; Cultural Historical Museum)
10:00 – 10:30 pm Guided tour through the permanent collection of the Ethnographic Museum
11:00 pm – 1:00 am Concert of unusual farm music along with a reception and announcement of the raffle winner
6:00 pm – 1:00 am Permanent collection of the Ethnographic Museum
6:00 pm – 1:00 am Exhibition ˝Traditional dress and clothing from the Dubrovnik region from the holdings of the Ethnographic Museum in Dubrovnik˝
6:00 pm – 1:00 am Exhibition of Daguerreotypes ˝The Mirror that Remembers (˝Zrcalo koje pamti˝) in Dubrovnik’s collections
Event location: Fort Revelin
6.00 – 6:30 pm Guided tour through the exhibitions: Early Medieval Sculpture in Dubrovnik and the Surrounding Area and Fort Revelin: Archaeological Research / Architectural Development / Foundry
6:30 – 7:15 pm Lecture by Mario Novak, Ph.D. (Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb) and Domagoj Perkić, Ph.D. (Dubrovnik Museums, Archaeological Museum) ˝Place of life or death? Bronze Age burial of a child from the Gudnja Cave through forensic science.˝
9:00 – 9:30 pm Guided tour through the exhibitions: Early Medieval Sculpture in Dubrovnik and the Surrounding Area and Fort Revelin: Archaeological Research / Architectural Development / Foundry
10:00 – 10:45 pm Lecture by Mario Novak, Ph.D. (Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb) and Domagoj Perkić, Ph.D. (Dubrovnik Museums, Archaeological Museum) ˝Place of life or death? Bronze Age burial of a child from the Gudnja Cave through forensic science.˝

‘’In too many countries, people are deprived of their most basic needs and go to bed hungry every night because of corruption, while the powerful and corrupt enjoy lavish lifestyles with impunity’’, said José Ugaz, the chairman of Transparency International.

Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption has emphasized that corruption is a global problem which has grown due to inequity and increasing populism.

According to the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2016, Croatia has dropped by two points and placed as the 55th country among 178 world countries.

The latest 'result' has put Croatia back again among corrupt countries. Among the EU member countries Croatia is followed by Hungary, Romania, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.
On the other hand, the most transparent countries in 2016 were Denmark, New Zealand and Finland, whilst the most corrupted were African countries of South Sudan and Somalia.

Transparency International believes that corruption is not related to ideology but is a result of "greed that is neither left nor right." "That is the only objective criterion on which every research on corruption in state institutions should be based," stated Transparency International.