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Large steamers cannot enter the little harbour, so Gravosa, on the estuary of the Ombla, a mile or so away, serves as the usual port. It is sheltered by the rocky island of Daxa, and affords another of those fine harbours with which Dalmatia is so well provided.
The island is prettily situated near the shore of the Lago Grande, one of two lagoons reached by a pleasant road from Porto Palazzo. Nearer to Gravosa is Mezzo, the ancient Delaphodia, which also belonged to Ragusa. The mother church is away from the town, and is known as S. Maria del Biscione, a building of the fifteenth century.
Large numbers of Herzegovinian emigrants take boat at Gravosa; and I remember one day, when Ragusa was full of them and their friends and every vehicle crowded between that place and Gravosa, what a strange sight the pier presented, so thickly packed with people that one wondered none were pushed off.
From Gravosa the source of the Ombla is easily visited, a strange river springing full-grown from beneath a cliff but a few miles from the sea. The Greeks called it Arione, the Latins Umbla, and it is believed to be the same river as the Trebisnizza, which becomes subterranean some two and a half hours' journey away in the Herzegovina.
The direct boats, on leaving Spalato, steer between Solta and Brazza, and round the point of Lesina, proceeding by the Canals of Curzola and Meleda towards Gravosa; and we cannot do better than visit the islands in much the same order. Solta is the ancient Olinthia, celebrated for its honey; Olinthian honey was held to be superior to all other, except that of Hymettus.
The news reached Cattaro, and the Bocchesi, Montenegrins, and Russians invaded the territory of the Republic, beating the French near Ragusa Vecchia, and besieging them in Ragusa. On July 6, 1806, Gravosa was burnt, with the shipping and stores. In 1808 Marmont declared the Republic dead and buried, and the French retained Ragusa till 1814.
The situation appeared so hopeless that it was proposed to move the town to Gravosa, but the citizens would not leave the place. Apparently some 5,000 people had been killed, but the fragments of Venetian architecture on the slopes of Monte Sergio, as well as the one house pointed out beyond the cathedral, show that a good many houses survived in part.
The king, in return for the distinguished treatment which was accorded him, is said to have given to the Republic, Breno, Vergato, Ombla, Gravosa, the valley of Malfi, and part of Gionchetto, on the condition of churches dedicated to S. Stephen being built in all the towns. After his death his queen resolved to retire to Ragusa and become a nun.
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