September the 22nd, 2022 - The European Film Academy has thrown the most famous Croatian street of all, Dubrovnik's gorgeous Stradun, into the limelight.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the European Film Academy is expanding its scope and promoting European films from classics to contemporary titles, celebrating the richness and diversity of Europe's incredible film heritage. From this year on, the Academy will also focus on special anniversaries and thematic programmes related to European film.

With this aim, it founded a new department for European film heritage, under the leadership of Pascal Edelmann. One of the first steps is to start building a pan-European network of film heritage that will connect cinematheques, film archives and institutions in order to exchange information about the anniversaries of film artists, individual films, institutions or specific topics relevant to the history of cinema in different European countries and regions.

22 new locations were added to the "Treasures of European Film Culture" list

One of the first activities of the new department, ahead of this year's 35th European Film Awards, was to add 22 new places to the list of "Treasures of European Film Culture", which will bring the total number of ''heritage locations'' to 35. This is the Academy's list of places of symbolic importance for European cinema, that is, places of historical value that should be maintained and protected, both in the present and for the benefit of future generations.

"Instead of limiting our activities to the organisation of the European Film Awards, the European Film Academy will also embrace European film history and individuals who have contributed to the European film scene. This will lead to new projects with exciting partners, but also become recognisable in all the programmes we're going to organise during the year. I'm particularly proud of the ever-growing list of treasures of European film culture, especially in new locations in parts of Europe that haven't been included before, such as Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Latvia and Scotland. Our desire is to find new locations every year," says the director of the European Film Academy, Matthijs Wouter Knol.

The most famous Croatian street - Stradun - as a film set

In its hundred-year film history, Dubrovnik's beautiful streets, walls and palaces have all been an inspiration to numerous creators and artists. The unique preservation of the architectural harmony of Dubrovnik, especially its main street, Stradun, known as the most famous Croatian street, easily allows for a variety of cinematic expression.

Although the most famous Croatian street of all has starred in many a ''moving picture'' throughout many years, in much more recent times, the popularisation of Dubrovnik as a film location saw spaceships from a distant galaxy fly over Stradun (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 2017) as well as rebels led by Nottingham's hero Robin Hood march through it (Robin Hood, 2018). All of them were attracted by the warmth and light of Stradun, Dubrovnik's living room, where everyone feels at home.

You can view all 35 locations from the "Treasures of European Culture" list here.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

June 27th, 2021 - TCN's highlights of the week. A look at the events in Croatia from June 20 through the selection of TCN's intern Marina Kaleb. 

Highlights of the week: Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2021 Opens at Canopy by Hilton

Zagreb Digital Nomad Week 2021 & Zagreb Digital Nomad Ambassador Project kicked off the beginning of this week at Canopy by Hilton, one of 7 locations over 7 days, exploring 7 Digital Nomads related themes. The project is a collaboration between Saltwater Nomads, TCN, Doma Zagreb, the Digital Nomad Association Croatia, and the Zagreb Tourist Board (funded by the latter), and there was a high-profile turnout from the city and national officials to open the conference. 

Croatia has been one of the more high-profile countries globally over the last year with its efforts to introduce the digital nomad permit, which came into effect on January 1, 2021. The 7 days each focused on the individual themes - cybersecurity, online presence, remote careers, tax & finance, the future of work, wellbeing, and explore Zagreb. The keynote speakers are a mixture of in-person and remote speakers.

Highlights of the week: Basketball Legend Magic Johnson Returns to Dubrovnik! 

Magic Johnson's visit to Dubrovnik means he kept his promise of returning to the city. Johnson visited Croatia in the summer of last year. While strolling down Dubrovnik's main street Stradun he told a member of the media he finds the place beautiful and will be returning. Not even a year has passed, and he is once again seen smiling with his wife, Cookie, on one of Croatia's most beautiful streets.  

Grgo Jelavic/PIXSELL

It is unclear if Johnson will continue the trip to other parts of the country as he did last year. Low numbers of guests on the streets of Dubrovnik seem to be attracting plenty of wealthy tourists who do their best to avoid crowded beautiful destinations. 

Highlights of the week: EURO 2020: Croatia Tops Scotland for 2nd Place in Group D and Round of 16 Spot! 

Croatia tops Scotland 3:1 in the final Group D match for 2nd place and a spot in the Round of 16! The two nations played at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Tuesday night. 

Goran Stanzl/PIXSELL

In the EURO 2020 round of 16, the Croatia national team will play against Spain on Monday night, the second-placed team from Group E in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the Croatian national team will play without Ivan Perišić, who tested positive for Covid-19 just before the game. Ivan Perišić could not play before the EURO final on July 11th at Wembley Stadium. We wish him an uneventful recovery and returning to football at Wembley on that day, with Croatia in the finals!

Highlights of the week: EURO 2020: Croatian Female Team Wins 3 Medals at EGOI: Amazing Results at First Female-Only European Informatics Olympics

Ema Borevković, Lina Krištić and Lara Semeš (from Zagreb's XV Gymnasium), and Martina Licul (Pulau Gymnasium) represented Croatia and the aftermath of the contest that gathered 157 contestants saw Ema winning a gold medal, while Lara and Martina grabbed silver medals for their results. 

Pixabay

The contest was held online due to Covid-19 measures. The organization of the event for Croatian was arranged by the Croatian Computer Science Association (CCSA), and Zagreb's XV Gymnasium was the host of the event, where the studnets took the tests.

Highlights of the week: Lorde Returns to Her Roots for 2022 St. Michael's Fortress Spectacle in Šibenik

At an extremely exclusive concert with only 1,050 tickets on sale, the New Zealander with Croatian roots will recall some of her mega-hits from the first two albums and present "Solar Power," which will be released later this summer. Born in New Zealand, her mother has Dalmatian roots, and Lorde herself has dual citizenship.

Lorde Instagram

On tour, Lorde plays in locations she personally chooses and wants to visit, mostly the best concert stages in the world. Thus, the special Šibenik fortress found itself on the list in the company of legendary concert destinations such as Radio City Music Hall in New York, Shrine Auditorium in LA, Roundhouse in London, or Castello di Villafranca in Verona.

 For more on events in Croatia, follow our dedicated lifestyle section.

For more about education in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To follow the rest of the TCN coverage of the Euro 2020, click here.

For the latest news and features od digital nomads in Croatia, check out the dedicated TCN section. 

24 June 2021 - Magic Johnson returns to Dubrovnik with his wife on holiday. This is his second time in the city he fell in love with last year.

If there ever was a globally recongisable name in the world of sports, it is that of Magic Johnson. This legendary American reached the pinnacle of basketball success while playing for LA Lakers. He was also one of the key players in the original „Dream Team“.

He played 13 seasons for LA Lakers and won three NBA Most Valuable Player awards. The basketball Hall of Fame honoured him two times, once for his games under LA Lakers and once for his contribution to the success of the USA national squad. His average assists record still stands to this day. There are many other sporting achievements in his career, but aside from those, he made headlines in 1991 by announcing he has contracted HIV. Magic Johnson did much to raise awareness of the deadly disease and dispel myths surrounding it.

Fan of Dubrovnik

As Dubrovacki Vjesnik reports, Magic Johnson's visit to Dubrovnik means he kept his promise of returning to the city. Johnson visited Croatia last year. While enjoying Dubrovnik's Stradun he told a member of the media he finds the place beautiful and will be returning. Not even a year has passed and he is once again seen smiling with his wife Cookie on one of Croatia's most beautiful streets. It is unclear if Johnson will continue the trip to other parts of the country as he did last year.

Regardless of his travel plans, low numbers of guests on the streets of Dubrovnik seem to be attracting plenty of wealthy travellers who aim to avoid crowded destinations. While many in the city complain about lack of travellers and revenue, half-empty city streets are a perfect draw for guests looking to enjoy the medieval city without the hassle of overcrowding.

For more, follow our dedicated lifestyle section.

September te 20th, 2019 - While the renovation and the construction works were performed near Orlando's column right at the beginning (or the end, depending on the perspective) of Stradun, the main road in Dubrovnik Old Town, an unexpected discovery has been made.

Dubrovniknet writes about the brick fields found and registered, and the bricks were laid down on the pavement in the shape of a fishbone. Although the exact period during which these bricks were set on Stradun has not been determined, it can be safely assumed that it was done after the city's proclamation from 1360, but before the decision was made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century.

That is the decision that lead to Stradun being fully paved in stone, which is what we know it to look like now. Before the bricks, it is known that the streets in Dubrovnik were paved with wood, and now it has been found that the brick structure in the pavement has been trimmed with wooden elements.

It is also not known where the bricks used to pave the roads in Dubrovnik came from. The Facebook page Heritage_zupadubrovacka shared the photos of the newly-found pavement on Stradun and explained that Dubrovnik produced the bricks in Kupari, and sometimes it was exported to what is currently Italy (and, sometimes when there were shortages, it was imported from there too). The wood for the stoves for the brick production mostly came from Mljet. Is it possible that the bricks in Stradun were made in Kupari? Time and detailed analyses will tell...

The pavement surface in front of the Church of St. Blaise started earlier this September and should be finished within 90 days - if spectacular archaeological finds don't delay it. The goal of the renovation is to maintain the healthy stones and to remove the dirt. The works are supposed to cost around 1 million kuna, and all is to be done under the watchful eye of the conservators of the heritage of Dubrovnik.

July 28, 2019 - Croatia's crazy weather continues with Dubrovnik's famous Stradun flooded in late July after torrential rain. 

Today is arguably the craziest day of weather in this crazy summer of 2019. 

We went to bed with firefighters battling a huge fire near Sibenik which temporarily closed to main A1 motorway from Zagreb to Split. 

We awoke to 50 firefighters another huge fire near Zarace on Hvar, as 50 firefighters battles the blaze successfully. 

Rain came to assist the heroic Sibenik fighters, and the situation is now under control.

But that rain continued. And how. You can see more of the crazy weather in our earlier roundup, including three waterspouts on Krk and fallen trees in Split.  

And now, the latest symbol of Croatia's troubled summer. Stradun, the heart of the old town of Dubrovnik flooded as well, as captured by Luka Kovacic. 

Time to ask the question again - Does Croatian Tourism Have a Plan B If Climate Change is Real?

Yes, you read that correctly.

If you've ever been to Dubrovnik, you'll have certainly walked down it, but how much do you really know about the ground you're walking on?

If you've ever been to Dubrovnik, then you'll have walked down it, but how much do you really know about it?

Is Dino Merlin coming to Dubrovnik for New Year?

In a clear sign of defiance from Dubrovnik, residents prepare a peaceful protest against the new law.