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Cavtat is the largest and the only urban centre in Konavle that has been built up deliberately. It is located on the peninsula of Rat, which surrounds the well protected and accessible bay together with the peninsula of Sustjepan. In its harmonious architecture, the centuries-old natural, spiritual and material affiliation to the Dubrovnik Republic can be observed. Cavtat, the antique Epidaurus, was an important Roman colony in this region, which expires after the breakthrough of the Slavs and the Avarians into this area after the decline of the Western Roman Empire, and their inhabitants flee to the neighbouring settlement Laus-Rave-Ragus, wherefrom Dubrovnik arose. In historical sources, Cavtat is also mentioned with the name Ragusa Vecchia, what clearly testifies to the connection of these two cities. In the times of the Dubrovnik Republic, Cavtat was the second most important seaport, place of trade and of administration in the Republic after Dubrovnik.