Dubrovnik’s rich and ancient history has once again proved an attraction for international students. A group of visiting students from Sapienza University in Rome visited Dubrovnik to learn from the State Archive of Dubrovnik and the Institute of Historical Sciences.
Professor Rita Tolomeo from Sapienza University led the group of Master Degree students who are studying the History of Eastern Europe and they all spent three busy days in Dubrovnik on a field trip entitled “The meeting of cultures in the Eastern Adriatic.” “The State Archive in Dubrovnik is one of the richest in the Adriatic and preserves a great quantity of documents for the economic and social history of South-Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. It is therefore of a crucial importance for researchers from all the Europe” commented said Prof. Tolomeo.
The group of Magister Degree students of Sapienza University
The aim of the study trip was to understand the direct cultural heritage of the Republic of Ragusa (1358-1808) and of Cattaro (now Kotor) two different expressions of cross-cultural encounter of Balkans and Italy. After the visit to the State Archive of Dubrovnik the students also visited the Villa Sorgo of the Institute of Historical Sciences, part of the Croatian academy of Sciences and Arts, in which the Dr. Relja Seferović described the role and the research activity of the institute.
The group was welcomed and led in Dubrovnik by Dr. Benedetto Ligorio, student and now assistant of Prof. Tolomeo. Over the past three years he has spent lots of time in Dubrovnik and is now researching in the archive the sources of the trade links between the Adriatic cities of Ancona, Dubrovnik and Venice in Early Modern Era.
After the field trip to Dubrovnik and Kotor many student expressed their interest in the historical and archival heritage of the Eastern Adriatic regions in their future studies and most probably some of them will come in Croatia and in Montenegro to follow up their studies on early modern and contemporary history.
The interest of the students could lead to further co-operation in confirming the historical friendships of the people of the Adriatic.
Prof. Rita Tolomeo, Prof. Rade Petrović, Prof. Vesna Miović, Dr. Benedetto Ligorio