Walk the city walls above the terracotta rooftops

Two kilometres of unbroken defensive wall, up to six metres thick, circling the old town at rooftop height. It has never been breached, and the full circuit takes about two hours.

The walls were built and rebuilt between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries by a republic that stayed independent by being useful to everyone and threatening to no one. The investment shows: bastions, towers, a detached fort at Lovrijenac across the water, and a landward face far heavier than the seaward one.

The circuit is one-way and it climbs. What you get is the town from above — the roofs, which are a patchwork of old and new tile because of the shelling in 1991; the Stradun running through the middle; the cloisters and courtyards you cannot otherwise see into; and the open Adriatic on the other side.

The light is the whole argument for timing this properly. Midday flattens the roofs to a single orange; early morning and the last hour before closing give the depth and shadow that the view is famous for.