[Relations between Dubrovnik and Italy up to the 18-th century]

The author starts from the fact that a sea, by its very nature, can not only divide geographically two peoples settled on its shores, but also can bring them closer together with respect to culture, economics and common interests in general. He then seeks to demonstrate that the Adriatic Sea always brought the Croatian an Italian peoples, who lived on its shores, closer together rather than dividing them. To prove his thesis the author considers the example of the city and Republic of Dubrovnik, which continually fostered especially good cultural, economic and artistic relations with the cities and the states of the Appenine Peninsula. The study ranges from Dubrovnik's foundation in the 7-th century up to the 18-th century, the time in which Giorgio Baglivi lived and worked.