There should be no particular need to explain why Dubrovnik and its region hold a key position in the cultural identity of Croatia. The town’s historical and cultural singularity stemming from its particular status in the region, that of a medieval city-republic, and the unique architecture perfectly nested in the idyllic Mediterranean landscape, could not be shaken by all the social turmoil following the fall of the Republic in 1808.

Tourist guides, festival guides, and similar materials tend to quote George Bernard Shaw and Croatian poets to stress that obvious singularity. However necessary, historical distinction is not sufficient for the international exchange that inspired the Modernist architecture.