Konavle is a municipality and a small Dalmatian subregion located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The region is administratively part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and the center of the municipality is Cavtat.

Demographics

The total municipality population was 8,577 people in 2011, split in the following 32 settlements: In the 2011 census, 97.1% of the population were Croats. Historically, inhabitants of Konavle were called Canalesi.

History

Konavle gets its name from the Latin word canalis, and refers to the irrigation canals that supplied water from the spring in the village of Vodovađa via Kuna Konavoska to the ancient Greek colony of Epidaurum (Cavtat). In 1427, the authorities of Dubrovnik set out to eradicate Bogomilism in Konavle. Catholicism was restored there by the Franciscans in a rapid process that converted the entire population. During the Croatian War of Independence the region was occupied from October 1991 to May 1992 by Yugoslav Army forces from the Republic of Montenegro. Though considerably damaged at the time of its liberation, Konavle maintains its status as one of the wealthiest municipalities in all of Croatia, consistently ranking amongst the ten richest.

Geography

Konavle is actually a narrow field located between the Sniježnica mountain and the Adriatic Sea, spanning the area from the coastal town of Cavtat to the Montenegrin border at Prevlaka. Other than Cavtat, only the southernmost village of Molunat is located on the coast, while the other 30 villages are in the hinterland. The Sniježnica peak at 1234 meters of altitude is the highest point of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and village of Kuna with its 700 m altitude is the highest village in the county. Although Gruda is the administrative center of the municipality, the largest settlement is Cavtat. A few kilometres from Cavtat there is Pasjača, selected by Forbes in 2024 as the most beautiful beach in Europe, hidden below the Konavle cliffs.

Transport

The airport for Dubrovnik is located near the Konavle village of Čilipi.

Notable people from Konavle