Episode 153
Zdravo rano, dragi prijatelji!
Our Croatian Summer Destination Series continues with a lesson on Dubrovnik.
How is it properly pronounced by locals?
What are some other important Croatian words we should know when on a visit?
Grab your talking shoes Game Of Thrones fans! Idemo!
Lesson
Dubrovnik - Du′-brov-nik
Airport - Zračna Luka Ruđer Bošković
Main Street - Stradun
City Walls - gradske zidine
Lovrenac Fort - Tvrđava Lovrenac
Black risotto - crni rižot
Ice cream - sladoled
Super Slatko Report
For this edition of the Super Slatko Report, DJ Moe tells us about the mysterious and possibly cursed island of Lokrum. This little island near Dubrovnik has some magical powers and we are ready to learn all about it.
First and foremost, what is Lokrum?? And how is it Dubrovnik adjacent? I have a one word answer for you… Otok.
Thats right, Lokrum is actually Otok Lokrum and its located 30 minutes from Old Town Dubrovnik via ferry. Otok Lokrum is a lush green slice of Adriatic paradise measuring around 72 hectares (that’s roughly 178 acres). Lokrum is uninhabited by people (and not by accident, as you’ll soon hear), but Lokrum does play host to a thriving population of peacocks—imported by an Austrian archduke, as one does—and rabbits, who are allegedly not cursed but very photogenic. You'll also find dense pine forests, tropical botanical gardens, olive groves, and some hauntingly beautiful ruins. It's technically a protected nature reserve now, but beneath the shade of those pines and squawking peacocks is a fabled Curse of Lokrum.
The tale of the Lokrum Curse traces its gloomy origins back to 1023, when Benedictine monks built a monastery on Lokrum which they dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary. The island was their little slice of God’s kingdom—until it wasn’t. Fast forward to 1808: Napoleon rolls into Dubrovnik, disbands the Republic, and his bureaucrats expel the monks from Lokrum in no time at all. The monks were, understandably, not thrilled. Before leaving, they held one last candlelit procession, circling the island three times in their hooded robes, chanting and dripping melted wax onto the ground in the shape of a curse. Their message: Anyone who tries to own Lokrum shall be damned.
Over the years, the legend didn’t fade—it flourished. Locals and historians alike passed the story on like a cautionary tale you’d whisper over wine on a stormy night. And there’s no shortage of alleged victims: probably the most famous was Archduke Maximilian of Austria of the Habsburg family dynasty, who bought Lokrum in the 19th century. He became Emperor Maximilian of Mexico the 1st, he was later executed in Mexico by firing squad in Queretaro Mexico. Others who acquired the island reportedly died in accidents, went mad, committed double suicide with their lovers or suffered inexplicably tragic ends.
Otok Lokrum proximity to Dubrovnik isn’t the only connection to the world famous city, so were some of the most notable Dubrovnik families of the time. Story goes, Napoleon originally requested the 3 aristocratic families, Gozze, Pozza and Sargo to deliver the news to the monks themselves to vacate the island. The legend claims that some of these Dubrovnik elites—names long etched in stone around the Old Town—suffered generations of bad luck, political disgrace, or familial collapse. And while Dubrovnik doesn't exactly put this on a tourism brochure, locals still speak of the curse with a kind of knowing shrug. It’s the city’s haunted younger sibling—out of sight, but never quite out of mind.
These days, the tale of Lokrum’s curse gets trotted out on walking tours, in schoolyard dares, and the occasional late-night boat ride. Kids in Dubrovnik may not be tucked into bed with it nightly, but don’t be surprised if your tour guide delivers it with the same reverence as one might discuss rakija. The legend is part of the city’s cultural muscle memory—a mix of superstition, local history, and just enough tragedy to keep the candles burning. Lokrum, for all its beauty, remains conspicuously uninhabited, and not just for conservation reasons. No one really wants to test the wax.
In the end, could all of this be coincidence wrapped in a monk-shaped guilt trip? Mose, but maybe not… The misfortunes tied to Lokrum might be explained by bad luck, bad politics, or the general unpredictability of 19th-century empires or by band of Monks curse sealed in wax. Regardless how you choose to look at it, a legend like this survives a millennium because they tell a story and often times teach a valuable lesson. And in Croatia—a place that takes pride in its layered, mystical past—these types of stories are less about fact-checking and more about honoring the wonderful and whispered histories that give a place its soul. Curse or not, Lokrum remains untouched, unclaimed, and—according to some—unwelcome to the living.
Side note, you can visit Lokrum via ferry if you wish, if you’re a Game of Thrones fan, Lokrum is one of the many filming locations for the show. You can even take a picture sitting on the Iron Throne, if you open up google maps on the island of Lokrum, you’ll see the Iron Throne is listed with as one of the stars on the Lokrum map. So go ahead and have a seat on the Iron Throne, just don’t try and make an offer on the island…
And thats it for the Super Slatko Report.
