Kenneth E. Harker
2010 Croatia - Mount Srd

Looming over the city of Dubrovnik to the north-northeast, Mount Srd is 412 meters (1350 feet) high. Commanding a strategic position over the old city, occupying French forces in 1808 built Fort Imperial atop Mount Srd to protect the city from the Austrian army. The communists built a cable car to the top in 1969, and Fort Imperial was used as a disco in the 1980s. That cable car was destroyed in 1991 by Serb artillery attacks, but a handful of Croatian defenders held Mount Srd against repeated Serbian attacks. Today, Fort Imperial is a war museum.

These photos are copyright © 2010 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	Mount Srd, as seen from the old harbor in the old city. At the far left is the main communications tower for the city of Dubrovnik. In front of the tower is Fort Imperial. To the right is the new cable car station, completed earlier in the summer of 2010.
	The Dubrovnik Žičara was just completed a few month before our visit, in the summer of 2010. A cable car built in 1969 had previously followed the same path up the mountain, but was destroyed by Serbian artillery in 1991.
	Going up the cable car, we got a view of the city outside of the old city walls.
	About one third of the way up, the houses stop, but the hillside remains wooded.
	Even higher up, the trees give way to scrub and sagebrush. The trip up the mountain took about three minutes.
	The new cable car station at the top of Mount Srd. This building completely replaced the 1969 cable car station that was destroyed by Serbian artillery in 1991.
	At the top of the mountain, this is the view to the northeast. The second row of mountains in the distance is effectively the border between Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina. During the 1991-1992 Siege of Dubrovnik, Serbian forces controlled the near ridge line.
	The village of Bosanka was destroyed in October and November 1991, during the early stages of the Siege of Dubrovnik. It has since been rebuilt.
	The view looking due north. Below this mountain is a small bay with eight small Croatian villages. The top of the mountain is the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
	The view to the due south. The giant cross was erected on Mount Srd after the Siege of Dubrovnik as a memorial.
	Lokrum Island and the old harbor of Dubrovnik.
	The old, walled city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the Mount Srd cable car pylons in the foreground.
	Most of the newer part of Dubrovnik, including the Lapad Peninsula and the new harbor, as seen from the cable car observation deck.
	The main communication tower was badly damaged in the war, but has since been repaired (although it is rusting and needs a new coat of paint). It reminds me of a 1960s rocket ship.
	All of the communications equipment for the local television, radio, and mobile phone providers using the communications tower were housed in a new steel building next to the old fort. The tower in this photo was a second, smaller tower.
	A close-up of the base of the larger communications tower.
	A Croatian flag flies above part of the wall of Fort Imperial.
	The damage in the wall was caused by a Serbian shell.
	Dubrovnik, as seen from Fort Imperial.
	More damage to the 1808 fort.
	Fort Imperial, as seen from the north. This is the face of the fort that the Serbians attacked repeatedly but unsuccessfully in late 1991.
	Inside Fort Imperial is the new Museum of the Croatian War of Independence. There was relatively little information about the fort itself. It was constructed in 1808 by the French, who had conquered Ragusa and were looking to hold the city from any attack by the Austrians. The fort never saw combat until 1991. Most of the museum was devoted specifically to the Siege of Dubrovnik.
	Essentially the same map of the old city of Dubrovnik as we saw in the main gates to the city. Each dot on the map is a site where a Serbian artillery shell exploded. The worst day of the bombardment was December 6, 1991 when 13 civilians were killed. In total, 43 civilians were killed in the siege.
	These are relics of artillery left behind by the Serbs after their retreat from the Dubrovnik area.
	Most of the signage in the museum was in Croatian only, although some was in both Croatian and English.
	More artillery shell casings.
	A variety of small arms. It is unclear whether these were Croatian or Serbian. Both sides were primarily armed with weaponry originally acquired by the Yugoslav National Army (JNA).
	A small rocket. Although the artifacts were impressive, the most compelling part of the museum were the video documentaries of the shelling in the old city of Dubrovnik, mostly presented without any commentary.
	More small arms. Dubrovnik was demilitarized by the communist dictator Tito in an effort to encourage tourism from western Europe. Thus, Dubrovnik had very little in the way of weaponry to defend itself against the JNA and the Serbian and Montenegrin forces. Despite being able to mobilize as many as 2,000 men into service, the defenders of Dubrovnik were able to smuggle in only nine artillery pieces until the counterattack that liberated the city.
	You can take the stairs to the roof of the fort and get a commanding view of Dubrovnik and the coast. This is the Lapad peninsula, north of the old walled city.
	Central Dubrovnik.
	The old, walled city, as seen from the rooftop of Fort Imperial. It's clear that a hostile artillery position on top of this mountain would have been incredibly devastating to the city below. The Croats had to hold Mount Srd if Dubrovnik was to survive the siege.
	Graffiti on the rooftop of Fort Imperial.
	Much of the graffiti looked old enough that you can imagine it might have been done by the defenders of the fort during the siege.
	This would have been the view to the Serbian artillery positions. Serbian infantry tried to take the fort on several occasions in late 1991.
	War damage to the fort.
	Another view of the old city from atop Fort Imperial.
	The top of the stairway back into the main building of the fort.
	Sagebrush growing on the roof of Fort Imperial.
	Graffiti on Fort Imperial.
	This graffiti looks too recent to have been from the war.
	The stairs back down into the fort.
	Damaged walls at Fort Imperial.
	This is all that is left of a bunker dug into the earth to the northwest of Fort Imperial.
	A foxhole in the rocks.
	Another foxhole to protect a Croatian defender on the hillside. Most of the men fighting in this war were my age.
	The northwest portion of the top of Mount Srd was mostly gravel and sagebrush.
	A white cow grazes on the plain to the northeast of Fort Imperial. There were no fences, so it appears to be treated as open range land. I didn't see any signs warning about land mines.
	A small memorial to Robert Ivušić, one of the defenders of Mount Srd, killed in action on May 31, 1992, at the age of 19.
	The war memorial cross atop Mount Srd. A footpath from the city to the top of mountain has thirteen small crosses on it. Mothers who lost their sons in the war annually climb the footpath barefoot, stopping to pray at each cross on the way.
	Another stunning view of the old city of Dubrovnik.
	The cable car, just before our ride back down to the city.
	Fort Lovrijenac (St. Lawrence Fortress) is an early 11th century fortress located outside the western walls of the old city of Dubrovnik. It is considered a key strategic position in the defense of the city. Today, it is used as a venue for theatrical performance during Dubrovnik's summer festivals.
	Looking north at the Lapad peninsula, where most of the modern resort hotels in Dubrovnik are located.
	Back in amongst the houses of the city.
	The view just before getting off the cable car.