Restoration of Dubrovnik
When the war started, Dubrovnik already had an existing institution in charge of its restoration which had been active ever since the devastating 1979 earthquake that struck the City. As soon as the assault began, the Institute for the Restoration of Dubrovnik in cooperation with the Croatian Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and UNESCO started conducting an inventory of war damage and considering options for post-war restoration. Whereas urgent repairs were carried out during theattack, a detailed plan for post-war restoration was devised in cooperation with UNESCO in February 1993. Methods for roof and stone restoration were defined, as well as a timeline for the realization of the project and the competence of all the institutions involved.
Priorities included the nine fire-gutted buildings and other important or structurally endangered palaces and buildings, the City Bell Tower, roofs and façades on Stradun, severely damaged places of worship, the Jesuites' staircase, city fountains and the entrances to the Old City, as well as the most important fortresses and towers.
In the course of roof restoration, finding appropriate terra cotta tiles proved to be a problem as the new tiles were supposed to correspond to the old Ragusan tiles (the so-called kanalice) in form, color and structure. As far as stone restoration was concerned, it was necessary to find an appropriate replacement for the stone from the Korčula archipelago which was used in the construction of Dubrovnik and which could only be obtained in limited quantities. As needed, it was replaced with the stone from the Island of Brač. Restoration was mostly done in situ, and only occasionally in stonemason’s workshops on Korčula or Brač.
Systematic restoration began already in 1992 and it lasted until 2000. Even though the State Commission for War Damage Assessment had established that the total damage inflicted by the war was equivalent to $18,663,122, it turned out that, in order to carry out all the necessary restoration works, approximately $35 million would be needed. This sum covered all the necessary documentation, permits and compliance certificates, as well as the transport of new and old, damaged construction material.