Urban Transformation of the Dubrovnik Summer Villa Setting—From an Idyllic Landscape to an Overbuilt City

Abstract

The landscape surrounding a summer villa is, in a morphological and experiential sense, an inseparable part of the villa and its garden. This research examines the level of preservation of the historic landscapes of eight summer villas in Dubrovnik and the level of their integration into the urban fabric of the contemporary city. The research methods used include the analysis of the relevant scientific literature as well as the analysis and interpretation of graphic materials, i.e., cadastral maps from the second half of the 19th century, orthophoto maps, and spatial planning documentation. In this paper, the immediate landscape in close vicinity to the summer villas is defined as the protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV). Although the original use and extent of the summer villa landscapes have rarely been preserved, it is possible to establish PZSVs in order to preserve, i.e., reinterpret, the setting of the summer villas, which is necessary to experience them in their totality. This research establishes the general principles that enable the identification of three general models of transformation of the summer villa landscape. Furthermore, this research develops possible scenarios for the enhancement of the summer villa landscape based on the identified models. These models and scenarios are generally applicable in the context of the protection and enhancement of the summer villa landscapes in of the south of Croatia.

1. Introduction

The number, location, urban rules, specificity, and excellence associated with the construction of summer villas in the territory of the former Republic of Dubrovnik (The Republic of Ragusa, 15th–19th centuries), today the southeast part of the Republic of Croatia, have resulted in a special type of countryside architecture and an exceptional cultural landscape on a wider European scale [1] (pp. 33–44), ref. [2] (p. 196), ref. [3,4,5,6,7,8], ref. [9] (pp. 318–326), ref. [10] (p. 340). A summer villa (or summer residence) is a patrician countryside mansion located outside the city serving as an occasional retreat, usually during the summer months, but in the case of Dubrovnik summer villas, they do not just serve as locus amoeuns, or pleasant places [8] (p. 81). The term “summer villa” encompasses not only the main house, which may be of different levels of representativeness, but also the entire land with adjacent structures located within the perimeter wall surrounding the estate (Figure 1). The summer villas of Dubrovnik have several distinctive architectural features: a hewn-stone perimeter wall surrounding the entire plot of land, and within it, a pavilion, a chapel, porches, loggias, arsenals, terraces, outbuildings, and orthogonally organized gardens [1,2,6,7,8,10,11,12,13].

More than 300 summer villas with gardens were constructed in the 15th and especially 16th centuries [5] (p. 5) in the period of the so-called Golden Age of Dubrovnik. There, in a very limited coastal area of the Adriatic Sea, a specific type of garden architecture developed which perpetuated in its stylistic features for several centuries. It is known as the Dubrovnik Renaissance Garden and presents an unusual phenomenon in the European Renaissance garden architectural heritage [1].

Since ancient times, a countryside retreat has implied spending time at an estate used for repose and leisure but also involvement in agricultural activities [14] (p. 176), which is why the Dubrovnik summer villas were surrounded by natural and agricultural landscapes, forming, in fact, an extension of the summer villa and its gardens. In the past, their recognizable agricultural surroundings were functionally and experientially inseparable from the summer villa, creating a perfect setting for the Ancient Roman concept of Otium et Negotium, the balance between work and leisure [6], ref. [15] (p. 191), as well as a source of inspiration for Otium litterarum, leisure time for academic endeavors [16], ref. [17] (p. 89).

The first Dubrovnik summer villas were constructed only slightly later than the first Italian Renaissance villas with gardens, applying the fundamental principles of Renaissance art but in an entirely authentic way [1,11,12]. The visual identity and authenticity of the Dubrovnik summer villas derive from the fundamental feature of the landscape in which they were built—the sub-Mediterranean karst area whose basic element is stone.

Because of that, from the 13th century (when the independent Dubrovnik commune was formed) until its fall in 1806, the former Republic of Ragusa was very deliberate and organized in its efforts to fully utilize these rugged landscapes, by terracing them, i.e., supporting the soil by dry walls, at the very back of the summer villas [18]. These landscapes were planted with vines and fruit trees, and few fertile plains were reserved for wheat. Provisions on planting as well as drywall and path construction in landscapes can be found in the Ragusan Statute as early as the 13th century [19] (pp. 297–324). These agricultural landscapes immediately beyond the perimeter wall of the summer villas were their passepartout for centuries.

The Italians were the first among the modern nations to perceive the form of landscape, besides being useful, as something more or less beautiful and to be enjoyed [20] (p. 193), which is why Leon Battista Alberti in his famous treatise defines that the position of a Renaissance summer villa must be such that it allows a view of the surrounding picturesque cultivated agricultural or natural landscape [21] (p. 120), which can be clearly seen in the works of the Italian Renaissance architect and painter Giorgio Vasari [22] and Palladio’s positioning of villas in the landscape [23] (p. 35). The concept of “borrowed landscape”, in which the landscapes outside the perimeter walls of the estate become an inseparable part of the villas in the experiential sense is equally present in the Florentine [24] as well as in the Dubrovnik summer villas [1,2,5,6,7]. The concept of “borrowed landscape” is equally well known in Chinese garden art as well [25].

1.1. Cultural Landscapes Inseparably Associated with Summer Villas—Theoretical Background

In this research, the term “cultural landscape” is used as defined by Jones: “as landscape modified or influenced by human activity; as valued features of the human landscape that are threatened by change or disappearance, and as elements in the landscape with meaning for a human group in a given cultural or socio-economic context” [26].

Cultural landscapes have long been the subject of debate in scientific and professional circles [27,28] (pp. 146–275), ref. [29] (pp. 107–109), ref. [30,31,32], ref. [33] (p. 226), and yet relatively few papers focus on the principles of protection and integration of the immediate landscape of a summer villa into its urban surroundings [34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42]. The importance of immediate landscape, i.e., its inseparability from architectural heritage—in this case the summer villa and its garden—has been recognized globally and defined in several charters. In this paper, we highlight three of them that are in compliance with this research: Article 6 of the 1964 Venice Charter states the following: “The conservation of a monument implies preserving a setting which is not out of scale. Wherever the traditional setting exists, it must be kept” [43]. Article 7 of the 1981 Charter of Florence stipulates that “whether or not it is associated with a building in which case it is an inseparable complement, the historic garden cannot be isolated from its own particular environment, whether urban or rural, artificial or natural” [44]. The 2005 Xi’an Declaration on the Conservation of the Setting of Heritage Structures, Sites and Areas strongly acknowledges the significance of the setting of a heritage structure, defining it “as the immediate and extended environment that is part of, or contributes to, its significance and distinctive character” [45]. Moreover, the phrase “setting of a heritage asset” is defined as “the surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced” [45]. Its extent is not fixed and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate that significance or may be neutral” [46].

The concept of the inseparability of a villa and its immediate landscape is clearly seen in the example of the summer villas and gardens of the Medici family in Tuscany, fourteen of which were inscribed as unique UNESCO heritage in 2013 precisely because of the preservation of their setting, i.e., what it represents together with the villas—“integration into the natural environment helped develop the appreciation of landscape characteristic of Humanism and the Renaissance” [47]. It is interesting that the buffer zones, i.e., the landscapes that surround them and that are recognized as their inherent value, are several dozen times larger than the areas of the villas with the gardens themselves [47]. The most prominent examples of the preservation of the countryside character of the Medici villas can be seen in Fiesole (protected property area 2.11 ha and buffer zone 44.88 ha), Careggi (protected property area 3.6 ha and buffer zone 55.71 ha), Villa Petraia (protected property area 21.31 ha and buffer zone 276.33 ha), Castello (protected property area 8.33 ha and buffer zone 289.31 ha), Poggio a Caiano (protected property area 9.31 ha and buffer zone 135.63 ha), Trebbio (protected property area 1.6 ha and buffer zone 650.31 ha), Cafaggiolo (protected property area 2.35 ha and buffer zone 649.56 ha), Artimino (protected property area 1.04 ha and buffer zone 701.66 ha), and La Maggia (protected property area 2.1 ha and buffer zone 103.65 ha) [24]. However, both in the case of UNESCO and non-UNESCO heritage, the countryside Tuscan landscape has not been completely preserved, with its Renaissance intended use, but the overall experience of that landscape is still countryside. Today, its countryside area is reduced compared with the original one, and it has undergone certain construction. This can be seen in the picturesque countryside landscape of the settlement of Fiesole nearby Florence, where the paradigmatic early Renaissance villa of the Medici family is situated, built by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi with terraced gardens. A few centuries later, at the beginning of the 20th century, philosopher Charles Augustus Strong and English architects Cecil Pinsent and Geoffrey Scott built a villa with gardens “a la Italiana” style in its immediate vicinity—Villa Le Balze [48]. Notwithstanding the stylistic features of the house itself and the gardens, these two villas today still “share” the countryside character of the Fiesole landscape (Figure 2), without diminishing each other’s visual/experiential value.

The principle of establishing a buffer zone that protects the UNESCO heritage, whereby the buffer zone has the function of “cushioning” around the monumental area, and whose purpose is to enhance the integrity of the property and create a transition zone between different land uses/zones [49], is applicable to heritage protected on any level, not only on the UNESCO list.

Contemporary principles of the reinterpretation of historical landscapes, which visually and aesthetically contribute to the experience of a historical architectural entity, are also known, such as the Gülistan Garden project with a surface area of 5000 m², located outside the historical fortress of Van in the province of the same name in eastern Anatolia (Turkey) [50]. In the context of the protection and preservation of historical gardens and parks in Greece, Athanasiadou proposes several essential steps defining the frame of conservation, restoration, and management applicable worldwide, the primary ones being setting the conservation and restoration goals [51], which can also be applied in the context of historical landscapes of Dubrovnik summer villas.

1.2. Research Problem and Aim

Based on the explained theoretical background, cultural countryside landscapes stretching beyond the perimeter walls are an inseparable part of summer villas and the topic of this paper.

Following the collapse of the Republic of Dubrovnik, the nobility of Dubrovnik lost their status and economic strength, which has led to the majority of summer villas slowly falling into decay in the following decades (due to property-, legal-, and economically based maintenance issues). In the second half of the 20th century, during the socialist regime in the former state (Yugoslavia), many of the summer villas with their estates were confiscated and divided among many users. Although a legal framework for the protection of this valuable heritage existed in the mid-20th century already and scientists have researched and emphasized its value [4,7,52], the majority of urban planning mistakes were made exactly at that time. Due to the intensive urbanization of Dubrovnik during the 20th century, followed by apartmanization in the 21st century, the cultural landscapes that surrounded the Dubrovnik summer villas have mostly not been preserved [11,12]. These landscapes have almost completely lost their original use and structure, and have significantly reduced in size.

This paper aims at drawing attention to the need to (re)evaluate, preserve, and reinterpret the immediate landscape of a summer villa, which contributes to the countryside setting of the summer villa itself.

Two fundamental questions arise with regards to this: (1) to what extent has the original cultural landscape of a summer villa been preserved as its inseparable component?; (2) to what extent are the Dubrovnik summer villas integrated into the city fabric? The first question begs the second and vice versa.

Based on the selected examples of the Dubrovnik summer villas, the aims of this research were as follows: (1) to determine the historical and present identity features of the immediate landscape of the Dubrovnik summer villas; (2) to determine the existing general models of the transformation of summer villa landscapes; and (3) to highlight possible recovery scenarios of transforming a summer villa landscape into an urban landscape of the 21st century as universal principles applicable in a broader context. This implies analyzing (on selected examples) whether there are still certain unbuilt free spaces immediately next to the perimeter walls of the summer villas that could, on the urban planning level, be defined as protective zones of summer villas for the purpose of (re)establishing landscape spaces similar to the historical ones on the landscape design level.

2. Materials and Methods

In this research, we introduce the term “protective zone of a summer villa” (PZSV) which describes a protected area in the immediate landscape of a summer villa that should be exempt from any adaptation, especially construction, and whose (original) use, i.e., function that complements the intended use of the summer villa, should be preserved as much as possible. In the context of previously mentioned buffer zones, which are larger areas with placed restrictions, PZSVs would be smaller in size compared with the UNESCO buffer but with complete construction restrictions. The aim of establishing protective zones of summer villas is to preserve the setting of summer villas with at least a portion of their original landscape, including reestablishing the same or similar land use as the original landscape, so they can be experienced in their totality, just as they are historically defined—as a summer countryside retreat.

Several research methods were used in this paper. This research is based on the analysis of relevant scientific and technical literature as well as of graphic materials relating to the eight selected examples of publicly owned prominent summer villas in the administrative territory of the city of Dubrovnik (Figure 3). All the selected examples are categorized as a public good and the original boundaries of the summer villas are still largely preserved—this includes the perimeter wall of the estate with more or less preserved buildings and garden elements. They were also selected for their architectural and landscaping excellence under the assumption that architectural heritage categorized as public good (unique and undivided property) should/could be subject to all legislation best practices and methodologies, with the highest standards of conservation of public good and without any individual interests. Another important selection criterion was the distribution of the summer villas, with four summer villas being within and four outside of the UNESCO buffer zone of Dubrovnik. As part of this selection criterion, it was analyzed whether stricter preservation restrictions apply to or will be introduced for historical landscapes of the summer villas within the UNESCO buffer zone.

Austrian cadastral registers from the middle and second half of the 19th century were analyzed to determine historical relationships in the landscape [53,54]. The lack of historical ground plans of the summer villas makes old cadastral registers reliable sources for determining the original use of the surrounding summer villa landscape [40]. In terms of land use, the cultural landscapes of the Dubrovnik summer villas were mostly unchanged until the end of the 19th century [1].

The current relationships of villas and their settings to the landscape and access routes was analyzed based on the official digital orthophoto browser of the city of Dubrovnik (in the GIS application) and the publicly available digital satellite image of the analyzed area from 1968 and 2024 [55,56], as well as by on-site visits to the selected examples of the Dubrovnik summer villas and a review of available official materials (restoration studies, official web-sites of institutions, and projects). The planned relationship of villas and their settings was analyzed by using current urban plans [57].

This research determines the identity features of the summer villa landscape throughout history, today and in the near future, as formally envisioned in the spatial plan. The identified features of the summer villa landscape enable the analysis and examination of the level of landscape preservation and of the level of integration of summer villas into the city fabric, not only in Croatian, i.e., Dubrovnik, examples. The general models of transformation of the summer villa landscape were developed based on three different examples using the context of each villa’s surrounding landscape treatment and the potential of its preservation (No.5 Villa Bozdari, No.7 Villa Resti, No.8 Villa Gozze), including its detailed graphical interpretation. Moreover, scenarios for the protection and enhancement of the summer villa landscape were developed in relation to the three identified models.

Research Area

This research included eight summer villas located in different areas of the administrative territory of the city of Dubrovnik (

Table 1. Basic data on the case study summer villas.

Case Study Number	Summer Villa Name	Administrative Area	UNESCO Catgorisation	National/Local Level of Protection
1	Villa Skočibuha	Area A	Within UNESCO buffer zone	Protected cultural property at the national level
2	Villa Sorgo	Area B	Within UNESCO buffer zone	Protected cultural property at the national level
3	Villa Bona—Caboga	Area C	Within UNESCO buffer zone	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level
4	Vila Stay—Caboga	Area C	Within UNESCO buffer zone	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level
5	Villa Bozdari	Area C	Outside UNESCO	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level
6	Villa Sorgo—Skala	Area C	Outside UNESCO	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level
7	Villa Resti	Area C	Outside UNESCO	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level
8	Villa Gozze	Area C	Outside UNESCO	Protected cultural property at the national level; “Significant landscape” protection of the area at the national level

, Figure 3): Boninovo (area A, UNESCO buffer zone), Gruž (area B, UNESCO buffer zone), and Rijeka dubrovačka (area C, the greater part of Rijeka dubrovačka is outside the UNESCO buffer zone). Four summer villas are situated within the UNESCO buffer zone of Dubrovnik: (1) Skočibuha (area A), (2) Sorgo (area B), (3) Bona—Caboga (area C), and (4) Stay (area C).The other four summer villas can be found deeper in the Bay of Rijeka dubrovačka outside the UNESCO buffer zone (area C). They are also representative examples of publicly owned summer villas in Dubrovnik: (5) Bozdari (area C), (6) Sorgo—Skala (area C), (7) Resti (area C), and (8) Gozze (area C).

The historical core of Dubrovnik along with the island of Lokrum has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979 (Figure 3). In 1994, the buffer zone was extended to include the area of the historical garden suburb of Pile—Konali, located immediately to the west of the historical core [58]. In 2018, the buffer zone was once again extended [59] to include the slopes of mount Srđ, at the foot of which lies the historical core of Dubrovnik, including the Sveti Jakov area to the east (area D, Figure 3) and the areas of Boninovo (area A, Figure 3) and the Bay of Gruž (area B, Figure 3) to the west, all of which were historically used as countryside retreats in the former Republic of Ragusa [6], (p. 18), thus becoming an inseparable historical, architectural, and visual element of the city’s setting. Most countryside retreats were built in the area of Rijeka dubrovačka (area C) [6], whose mouth has only recently been included in the buffer zone of Dubrovnik even though the elongated bay was once home to over 50 summer villas [12], a significant number of which can still be found today with varying levels of preservation. Rijeka dubrovačka is in fact a five-kilometre-long estuary with specific biological, ecological, and landscape features, which is why it was declared a nature reserve in 1964 and is protected as a significant landscape today [60]. The fact that the summer villa landscapes are located within the UNESCO buffer zone and a protected landscape area highlights the importance of regulating their management.

3. Results

The analysis of the eight selected examples of Dubrovnik summer villa landscapes has shown that the last two centuries, especially the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century, were marked by uncoordinated changes to the immediate historical landscape of the summer villas, that is, by the lack of operational planning guidelines that would enable preserving them in terms of complementary land use and functional connections with the summer villa, and thus the city fabric. The following sections describe the research results obtained by reviewing the relevant literature, the historical cadastral register of 1837 and its revision from the 1870s, the orthophoto map, and the graphical part of the current urban plan. These individual results were then synthesized to define general models and scenarios and form a conclusion.

3.1. Historical Land Use of the Summer Villa Landscape Based on the Literature Sources

Records from the 15th and 16th centuries show that vineyards had stretched on the slopes in the immediate vicinity of the summer villas [61] (pp. 24–27), [62] (p. 174), as well as olive groves, since the 14th century [6] (p. 16). Previous research has shown that the integrity of the summer villas and their agricultural landscapes in the Dubrovnik area was preserved until the first decade of the 20th century [1,18].

The summer villas analyzed in this paper were used by Ragusan noble families as their summer retreat, or their second home. The summer villas were mainly the farming center of the estate [12,18,63,64], and were very rarely used for residential purposes only. Seven out of the eight summer villas analyzed in this paper are situated at the seafront (No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7, No.8, Figure 1 and Figure 2), so access to the sea and connection by sea were extremely important [8]. The layout of these seafront summer villas was, without exception, well planned to ensure that the first-floor rooms and terraces offered a view of the surrounding cultivated landscape, i.e., the picturesque union of the sea and land.

All seafront summer villas had boathouses (arsenals), most often found in wings abutting vertically from the main building, forming their characteristic L-shaped floor plan [6]. The Sorgo—Skala summer villa (No.6 Figure 1) got its colloquial name Skala (Stairs) because of its grand staircase leading down to the sea and being accessible only by boat [6] (p. 350). In the central part of the garden of the Bozdari summer villa, a balcony was designed and constructed to overlook the sea in Rijeka dubrovačka (No.5, Figure 1) [65]. Although the Skočibuha summer villa in Boninovo (area A, No.1. Figure 1) is located in the mainland suburb of Dubrovnik, its hilly position enables a sea view in the distance, and in the past, the cultural landscape surrounding the villa. [66]. The Boninovo area (area A, Figure 1) was originally just a countryside retreat of the Pozza-Sorgo and Altesti families, and it was not until the second half of the 19th century that a part of it was repurposed to serve as the city cemetery [67,68].

The gardens of the eight analyzed villas within the perimeter wall were designed in accordance with the tradition of the Dubrovnik Renaissance garden—an orthogonal network of walking paths under pergolas framing the garden fields. In three gardens, there were significant interventions from the end of the 19th and the middle of the 20th centuries (No.3, No.4, No.6), while in the villas Bona—Caboga (No.3) and Stay—Caboga (No.4), the Renaissance matrix of the garden was negated [18]. The gardens of six villas are dilapidated, unrestored although with a recognizable Renaissance style (No.1, No.2, No.7, No.8), i.e., late Renaissance and Baroque matrix (No.5). Recently, studies and restoration projects have been conducted for six out of the eight villa gardens (No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7, No.8), where research was carried out in accordance with the Charter of Florence, especially taking into account article 16 of the Charter, which prescribes restoration that will “respect the successive stages of evolution of the garden concerned” [44]. The aforementioned principle is particularly visible in the restoration of the gardens of the Bona—Caboga and Stay—Caboga villas, where both the Renaissance layer and the garden layer from the end of the 19th century are presented [18]. However, in projects for the restoration of villas with their gardens, the landscapes immediately outside the perimeter wall were not restored, given the absence of a planning and administrative framework for viewing these spaces as inseparable from the villa as a whole.

Density of the Dubrovnik summer villas in the analyzed area also reflects the social aspect of the summer villa landscape of that time, where neighboring noblemen gathered in their villas and gardens and discussed art and literature, playing music and performing theatrical plays [17]. During the period of construction of the summer villas, the main mainland connection in the Rijeka dubrovačka area (area C, Figure 3) and the main connection to the historical core was the route of the Early Renaissance aqueduct built in 1437 [69]. A mainland link between the Boninovo area (area A) and the historical core and the Gruž area (area B, Figure 1) presumably existed in the 9th or 10th century already [70] (p. 15). The front facades of the countryside residences overlooked paths connecting them to the nearby hamlets, i.e., with the neighboring summer villas (Figure 3). Road construction in the Dubrovnik area began during the French administration (1806–1814) on unsurfaced roads, and gained real momentum during the Austrian administration (1815–1918), when wider roads were built to accommodate primarily carriages and, at the end of the 19th century, the first cars: the road along the coast of the Bay of Gruž (area B, Figure 3), the road along the coast of Rijeka dubrovačka (area C, Figure 3), and the road connecting Gruž and the historical core (area A, Figure 3) [67,70,71]. Paths in front of the summer villas in the Gruž and Rijeka dubrovačka areas were at the time extended by filling in the coast and at the end of the 19th century separated from the sea for the first time, without significantly impairing their integrity, i.e., their perimeter walls, or the area behind the villas [4,12,18,72,73].

Preserving and re-evaluating historical connections is of great importance to contemporary cities in which experiencing the city from a pedestrian perspective becomes a priority (historical connections are by far most often pedestrian) [74] (p. 59). Moreover, historical walking paths “to” and “from” summer villas also serve an aesthetic purpose. They are landscape dividers, lines commonly used to demarcate territory along the borders of plots, conforming to the topographical logic of the landscape and thus the property relations existing within it. Historical paths with drywall abuttals in the Mediterranean area, including in Dubrovnik, in fact form the oldest cadastral register embedded in the landscape itself [75] (pp. 107–119).

3.2. Historical Land Use of the Summer Villa Landscape Based on the Analysis of 19th Century Cadastral Registers

This section of the paper summarizes the results of the analysis of the historical use of summer villas and the surrounding landscape based on the information from the 1837 Austrian cadastral register and its revision from the 1870s [53,54]. The analysis of the cadastral registers clearly shows that the summer villas in the analyzed area were located relatively close to each other (500–1000 m) and separated by agricultural land spreading over the slopes of the summer estate. These landscapes were terraced due to the uneven topography, with drywall structures still intermittently visible in the space. The analysis of Austrian cadastral registers has shown without exception that the immediate landscape beyond the perimeter wall facing the back of all eight analyzed summer villas was agricultural land and, to a small extent, indigenous forest and maquis land, thus creating the picturesque countryside setting of the summer villas (Figure 3,

Table 2. Historical and present land use of the summer villa landscape.

Name of the Summer Villa/Location	Purpose of the Summer Villa Past/Present	Historic Garden Extent Preservation within the Summer Villa Wall (Perc.)	Land Uses of the Immediate Landscape—Past/Present		Present Paths and Access Routes to the Summer Villa	Free Spaces in the Immediate Villa Landscape Beyond the Perimeter Wall
			Preserved Cultivated Historical Landscape (Perc.)	Preserved Natural Historical Landscape (Perc.)
1. Skočibuha/area A UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	100%	0%	13%	Partially preserved historic connectionss; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	No free spaces
2. Sorgo/area B UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	100%	0%	Complete transformation of historic cultural landscape into natural landscape	Partially preserved historic connectionss; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Partially free spaces
3. Bona—Caboga/area C UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	71%	0%	Complete transformation of historic cultural landscape into natural landscape	Historic connections not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Partially free spaces
4. Stay/area C UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	64%	0%	Complete transformation of historic cultural landscape into natural landscape	Historic connections not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Partially free spaces
5. Bozdari/area C Outside UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	78%	0%	89%	Historic connections neglected; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Free spaces
6. Sorgo—Skala/area C Outside UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	82%	0%	92%	Historic connections not preserved; partially preserved sea access to the summer villa	Partially free spaces
7. Resti/area C Outside UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	100%	0%	Complete transformation of historic cultural landscape into natural landscape	Historic connections not preserved; preserved sea access to the summer villa	Partially free spaces
8. Gozze/area C Outside UNESCO buffer zone	Noble property/ Public use	100%	0%	Complete transformation of historic cultural landscape into natural landscape	Historic connections not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	No free spaces

and

Table A1. Historical land use of the summer villa landscape—Situation according to the Austrian cadastral register from 1837.

Name of the Summer Villa/Location	Historic Gardens within the Summer Villa Walls (Area in m2)	Historical Land Uses in the Immediate Landscape (Area m2)						Historical Paths and Access Routes to the Summer Villa and towards the Historical Core, Economic Area, and Port Gruž
		Vineyards	Pasture	Olive Groves	Orchards	Arable Land	Indigenous Vegetation
Skočibuha/area A	4828	28,000	15,200	275,000	26,000	/	344,200	Well connected with secondary and main pathways
2. Petar Sorgo/area B	2862	42,190	/	29,951	5231	/	1666	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
3. Bona-Caboga/area C	1574	5250	50,000	47,000	/	/	/	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
4. Stay/area C	3193	6100	60,000	40,000	/	/	/	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
5. Bozdari/area C	1440	5849	1123	/	1300	/	340,000	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
6. Sorgo—Skala/area C	5841	4200	8800	22,000	/	3600	38,600	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
7. Resti/area C	3225	5920	13,022	42,900	35,036	/	152,166	Well connected with secondary and main pathways, coastal access to the summer villa
8. Gozze/area C	1387	126,440	19,969	59,288	95,703	/	2338	Local pathways, coastal access to the summer villa

. In that regard, no differences were found in the use of the immediate landscape of the summer villas between areas A, B, and C in the period up to 1837, i.e., the 1870s, indicating that the way in which the countryside landscape was traditionally used was preserved for centuries (until the end of 19th century).

Except for the Skočibuha summer villa (No.1 on Figure 3, Table 2 and Table A1, all the other summer villas in the study had their main access from the sea. The analysis of historical Austrian cadastral registers from first and second half of 19th century also show that all eight analyzed summer villas were at the time connected with the historical core of Dubrovnik and the rest of the territory by land. This analysis also shows that, for example, the route of the Early Renaissance aqueduct had up to the middle of the 19th century, or for five centuries, had a dual infrastructural role—water supply and as a walking path. The route is marked as Strada dell Acquedotto (Aqueduct Road) in the Austrian cadastral register [53,54].

The revised Austrian cadastral register from the 1870s shows certain changes in the transport connections in the Dubrovnik area that were reflected in the landscape of the summer villas. According to the 1837 cadastral register, the front facades of the summer villas in the Gruž area (area B, Figure 3 and Figure 4) were initially right next to the sea and connected with a relatively narrow path that conformed to the shape of the plots and terrain and lacked the radius of “modern” roads intended for vehicular traffic. However, the revised Austrian cadastral register from the 1870s also shows a new path along the coast of the Gruž area, and therefore in front of the Sorgo summer villa (area B, No.1, Figure 3 and Figure 4). The path is marked as Strada per Ragusa (Road to Ragusa) on the cadastral map. The path had to be made by filling in a part of the coast, i.e., by taking away some sea territory, thus increasing the distance between the summer villa and the sea. However, the agricultural land at the back of the Sorgo summer villa was preserved at the time (No.2, Table 2 and Table A1).

In all the analyzed examples, the Austrian cadastral registers point to the same principle—until the second half of 19th century and the beginning of the construction of roads for vehicular use, the main land roads had avoided the front of the summer villas by being located behind them, outside of the intensive agricultural area. The summer villas on the coast also had the original access to the sea preserved up until the 19th century. Furthermore, the areas behind the summer villas beyond the perimeter walls were almost entirely agricultural land, and more rarely natural land, even after the construction of roads for the first vehicles (Table 2 and Table A1).

3.3. Present Land Use of the Summer Villa Landscape—Situation according to Orthoimagery from 2011 and 2024

The analysis has shown that five summer villas are being actively used for social purposes—as public good (No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.6), while the remaining three are also state/city-owned and will be designated for that purpose in the near future (No.5, No.7, No.8) (Table 2 and

Table A2. Present land use of the summer villa landscape—Situation according to orthoimagery (2024).

Name of the Summer Villa/Location	Present Land Uses of the Summer Villa	Historic Gardens within the Summer villa Walls (Area in m2)	Present Land Uses of the Immediate Landscape										Present Paths and Access Routes to the Summer Villa	Boundaries of Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection	Free Spaces in the Immediate Villa Landscape beyond the Perimeter Wall
			Cultivated Landscape/Naturale Landscape (Area in m2)						Built Landscape (Area in m2)
			Cutivated Gardens	Pasture	Olive Groves	Orchards, Vineyards	Arable Land	Indigenous Vegetation	Buildings	Parking Lot	Roads	Docks
Skočibuha/area A	Public use— Dubrovnik Science Library—book depot/neglected	4828	42,183	/	/	/	/	44,875	145,120	40,883	91,758	/	Partially preserved historic communications; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	UNESCO buffer zone; cultural heritage protection within the wall of the summer villa	No free spaces
2. Sorgo/area B	Public use—Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts—Institute for Historical Sciences – ongoing restoration	2862	17,660	/	/	/	/	40,446	25,363	5692	8355	1822	Partially preserved historic communications; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	UNESCO buffer zone; cultural heritage protection of landscape beyond the summer villa wall	Partially free spaces
3. Bona—Caboga/area C	Public use—City of Dubrovnik—multipurpose cultural events	1123	/	/	/	/	/	118,732	23,366	3000	10,500	14,345	Historic communications not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	UNESCO buffer zone; protected significant landscape cultural heritage protection within the wall of the summer villa	Partially free spaces
4. Stay/area C	Public use—Croatian Conservation Institute	2045	2919					96,542	2568	884	6680	2200	Historic communications not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	UNESCO buffer zone; protected significant landscape; cultural heritage protection within the wall of the summer villa	Partially free spaces
5. Bozdari/area C	Public use—City of Dubrovnik—ongoing restoration	1129	451	/	/	/	/	303,002	1588	2300	28,848	2450	Historic communications neglected; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Protected significant landscape; cultural heritage protection of landscape beyond the summer villa wall	Free spaces
6. Sorgo—Skala/area C	Public use—ACI Marina—ongoing restoration	4774	12,923	/	/	/	/	35,798	15,810	16,883	5776	5400	Historic communications not preserved; partially preserved sea access to the summer villa	Protected significant landscape; cultural heritage protection within the wall of the summer villa	Partially free spaces
7. Resti/area C	Public use—City of Dubrovnik—ongoing restoration	3225	51,027	/	/	/	/	192,408	27,663	15,763	16,105	2200	Historic communications not preserved; preserved sea access to the summer villa	Protected significant landscape; cultural heritage protection of landscape beyond the summer villa wall	Partially free spaces
8. Gozze/area C	Public use—City of Dubrovnik—ongoing restoration	1387	28,104	/	/	/	/	88,580	25,266	2264	9716	70,041	Historic communications not preserved; road has cut off sea access to the summer villa; traffic adjacent to the summer villa	Protected significant landscape; cultural heritage protection of landscape beyond the summer villa wall	No free spaces

). Unfortunately, the immediate cultural landscapes of all the summer villas have been more or less permanently transformed (Figure 4 and Figure 5; Table 2 and Table A2). The surroundings of seven out of the eight summer villas have lost their historical land use—agricultural land (Table 2 and Table A2). The process of urbanization of the immediate landscapes of these summer villas had already begun at the beginning of the 20th century, and continued, especially in its second half and the beginning of the 21st century. A comparison of the orthoimagery and the 19th-century cadastral maps shows visible changes in the landscapes behind the summer villas beyond their perimeter wall (Figure 4 and Figure 5). Quantitative analysis and a comparison between the previously mentioned period of the 19th century and its present state (Table 2, Table A1 and Table A2) show that historical gardens within the summer villa walls in almost all cases have preserved their original surface. The Bona—Caboga, Stay—Caboga, and Bozdari summer villas have lost a part of their inner gardens due to road construction (Nos.4, 5, and 6, Table 2, Table A1 and Table A2). But it is evident that the summer villa setting, i.e., the land use of the historical landscape has been completely changed (Figure 4 and Figure 5). These days, the summer villa landscapes are incomparable in the sense of land use and surface areas, except for the summer villa Bozdari. On the southern side of Rijeka dubrovačka, a corridor of the narrow-gauge railway constructed between 1898 and 1901 has been embedded into the landscape of the summer villas which has fragmented and isolated the landscape and made it impossible to cultivate (Figure 3 and Figure 5). The corridor passes closest to the Bona—Caboga and Stay—Caboga summer villas, separating them from their countryside landscape—the terraces with vineyards (No.4 and No.5, Figure 4 and Figure 5). The largest intervention into the integrity of the countryside landscape of the summer villas in Rijeka dubrovačka, which also significantly affected the integrity of the summer villa estates, came about in 1963 with the construction of a corridor of the Adriatic Highway (Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5). The front perimeter walls of the Stay—Caboga and Bona—Caboga summer villas were destroyed and portions of their arsenals and gardens facing the front facade were demolished; a part of the front garden of the Bozdari summer villa was also destroyed, while the Resti and Gozze summer villas were separated from the picturesque countryside landscape behind them (No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7, No.8, Figure 1, Figure 4 and Figure 5).

During the 1980s, the biggest changes occurred in the landscape of the Gozze summer villa (Obuljeno) (No.8 on Figure 3; No.8 on Figure 4 and Figure 5; No.8, in Table 2 and Table A2; Figure 8) as the Nova Mokošica settlement for 10,000 inhabitants was built on the terraces with olive groves behind the summer villa. The countryside landscape of the Gozze summer villa was further disturbed by private houses built right against its north-west perimeter wall (No.8, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 8). The immediate landscape of the other two summer villas in Rijeka dubrovačka has also been urbanized by private (residential) properties (No.3, No.7 Figure 4 and Figure 5), commercial properties and parking lots (No.6 on Figure 4 and Figure 5), and dry marinas (No.7 on Figure 4 and Figure 5), all constructed on what used to be the agricultural landscape of the summer villa. The largest urbanization of the summer villa landscape in recent times, or its degradation, occurred at the north-east boundary of the Skočibuha summer villa in Boninovo (No.1, Figure 4 and Figure 5), where a large parking lot has been built, demolishing a portion of the original perimeter wall of the summer villa.

The historical paths in the landscapes of all eight analyzed summer villas have still not been reaffirmed, for example the paths connecting the summer villas in Rijeka dubrovačka (area C, Figure 3) and part of the Gruž area (area B, Figure 3) with the route of the 1437 Early Renaissance aqueduct. The historical route in the Boninovo area (area A) towards the historical core has been partially preserved but insufficiently affirmed as an important historical path (No.1, Figure 3). The original access to the sea—historically the main connecting route—has been completely fragmented in six out of the eight summer villas, the only exceptions being the Resti summer villa and, partially, the Sorgo—Skala summer villa (No.6 and No.7 on Figure 4 and Figure 5, Table 2 and Table A2).

Five summer villas have partially built landscapes (No.2, No.3, No.4, No.6, No.7 on Figure 4 and Figure 5, Table 2 and Table A2), while two summer villas have completely built landscapes (No.1, No.8 on Figure 4 and Figure 5, Table 2 and Table A2).

The analysis of the current situation (Table 2 and Table A2) points to the conclusion that, even though areas beyond the perimeter wall of certain summer villas fall under formal protection, the immediate landscape of countryside estates was subject to uncoordinated changes in the 20th century, depriving summer houses of their “organic” component. The exception is the Bozdari summer villa with a steep rugged terrain behind it; the terrain is north-facing, and thus in the shade most of the year, difficult and unattractive for construction, which has helped keep it covered with stenomediterranean vegetation in different development stages to this day (No.5 on Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4).

3.4. Planned Land Use of the Summer Villa Landscape—According to the 2005 General Urban Plan of Dubrovnik with Targeted Amendments

In order to analyze the intended use of the summer villas and their surrounding landscapes, i.e., to determine whether it is possible to form PZSVs, as well as to analyze the planned access routes to the summer villas (new paths and revitalization of historical ones), the 2005 General Urban Plan of Dubrovnik with nine “spot zoning” amendments (hereinafter, the GUP) was analyzed [57].

All eight analyzed examples are planned to be used for public purposes (

Table 3. Planned land use of the summer villa landscape—according to the General Urban Plan of Dubrovnik (GUP).

Name of the Summer Villa/LOCATION	Planned Land Use of the Summer Villa	Planned Land Uses of the Immediate Landscape	Planned Paths and Access Routes to Summer Villas	Possibility of Planning a PZSV
1. Skočibuha/area A	Public and social use—culture—public library; vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces	Parking lot; cemetery; residential buildings	Local road links; car tunnel	No possibility to plan a PZSV
2. Sorgo/area B	Public and social use—culture; Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of History	Residential buildings; vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces	Local city road; planned pedestrian corridor	Possible to plan a fragmented PZSV
3. Bona—Caboga/area C	Public and social use—culture—venue for concerts, scientific workshops, lectures	Vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces, state road; terminal for ships on cruises; corridor of a new state road; new public park encompassing the Bona—Caboga and Stay summer villas	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Possible to plan a fragmented PZSV
4. Stay/area C	Public and social use—culture	Vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces; state road; terminal for ships on cruises; corridor of a new state road; new public park encompassing the Bona—Caboga and Stay summer villas	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Possible to plan a fragmented PZSV
5. Bozdari/area C	Public and social use—culture—multipurpose space—various cultural and social manifestations, presentations, exhibitions. Secondary activities—economic and hospitality.	Vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces; state road; mixed residential use low density (built); corridor of a new state road	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Possible to plan a PZSV
6. Sorgo—Skala/area C	Port of nautical tourism	Widening and reconstruction of the ACI marina Komolac—reconstruction of the Sorgo summer villa and the adjacent garden; expansion of the port (10 ha); construction of the accompanying communal buildings; mixed residential use	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Possible to plan a fragmented PZSV
7. Resti/area C	Public and social use—culture—school of old crafts, souvenir shop selling items made in the traditional way through workshops, restaurant with traditional dishes, enogastronomic center	Vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces; built-up residential zone—mixed use—low density	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Possible to plan a fragmented PZSV
8. Gozze/area C	Public and social use—culture; multipurpose use—social and cultural center of the Nova Mokošica settlement	Predominantly residential mixed use; local road; parking lot	Pedestrian walkway along the present road	Not possible to plan a PZSV

). All summer villas in the administrative territory of the city of Dubrovnik have been graphically marked on the architectural heritage map in the current urban plan [56]. However, summer villas are not planned as a separate category of use, so the state/city-owned ones are categorized under public and social use, while privately owned ones are categorized under the residential-use category. Moreover, one of the analyzed summer villas, Sorgo—Skala (No.6, Figure 3, Table 3), is categorized entirely under the category of port of nautical tourism.

The category of the summer villa landscape is not systematically recognized in current urban plans. However, some uses of the immediate summer villa landscape may provide a basis for planning a protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV). For example, the immediate landscape beyond the perimeter wall of several summer villas falls into the public and social use category (Table 3). The immediate landscape of five out of the eight summer villas falls into the vegetation buffer and landscape surfaces category—Sorgo, Bona—Caboga, Stay, Bozdari, Resti (No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.7, Table 3). Moreover, according to the Gruški akvatorij Urban Development Plan [75], the Bona—Caboga and Stay summer villas and the immediate landscapes beyond the perimeter walls behind them (No.3 and 4, Table 3; Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 5) are planned to form a single unit—spatial unit A summer villas with a park, with an area of 21,829 m². The plan envisions the conversion of the former railway corridor located behind the summer villas (Figure 3) into a pedestrian and cycling route; it also envisions a public city park with educational facilities in the areas behind the summer villas [76].

The current urban plans do not envision the revaluation of historical access routes to summer villas, such as neglected access roads to the route of the Early Renaissance aqueduct (No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, Table 3), nor do they envision the refurbishment of the ports in front of the summer villas (No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7, No.8, Table 3) [57]. However, it is planned to widen the existing roads in front of the summer villas to accommodate pedestrian traffic between the summer villas, both in the Gruž (area B) and Rijeka dubrovačka (area C) areas [57,76,77]. Although this will present an improvement to the access to summer villas, due to insufficient project coordination, the project of connecting a part of the summer villas in Gruž with walkways cannot completely mitigate the failures of the previous project. The recently constructed port of nautical tourism, a marina with docks in Gruž (area B), is located above the elevation point of the existing road passing next to the summer villas. In addition, the canopies on the docks have blocked the view of the summer villas on the coast, thus visually compromising their integrity. Due to the conflict between the project of the port of nautical tourism and the project of widening the existing road, the visual integrity of the summer villas will not be preserved to a greater extent and the establishment of wider greenbelts has also failed (the space has simply been consumed).

A comparison of the orthoimagery (current situation) and the intended use in the spatial plan (Table 2, Table 3 and Table A2) has shown that six out of the eight analyzed examples (No.2, No.3, No.4, No.5, No.6, No.7) still have certain unbuilt free spaces immediately next to the perimeter wall that could be planned as protective zones of summer villas (PZSVs) (Table 3).

3.5. Basic Models of Transformation of Dubrovnik Summer Villa Landscapes

Based on a detailed analysis of historical and present land uses of three summer villa landscapes analyzed in this paper—Bozdari (No.5, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6), Resti (No.7, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 7), and Gozze (No.8, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 8), features have been identified that can be used to determine three basic models of transformation of the Dubrovnik summer villa landscapes, which is a prerequisite for establishing PZSVs in urban planning documentation. In

Table 4. Criteria for defining the three main models of summer villa landscape transformation.

Model	Perimeter of the Summer Villa Wall	Connections	Separation from Original Surroundings	Immediate Landscape	Original Land Use
I. Model of completely preserved immediate historical landscape	Original perimeter wall of the summer villa is mostly preserved.	Historical connections “from” and “to” the summer villa are preserved.	The summer villa is not separated or is partially separated from its original surroundings.	The immediate summer villa landscape is unbuilt.	The original land use of the landscape is preserved.
II. Model of partially preserved immediate historical landscape	The perimeter wall of the summer villa is completely or partially preserved.	Historical connections “from” and “to” the summer villa are completely or partially preserved.	The summer villa is partially separated from its original surroundings—the sea and the landscape behind it.	The summer villa landscape is fragmented due to spot zoning amendments.	The original land use of the summer villa landscape is partially preserved.
III. Model of complete transformation of the historical landscape of a summer villa	The original perimeter wall of the summer villa is partially preserved or not preserved at all.	Historical connections “from” and “to” the summer villa are partially preserved or not preserved at all.	The summer villa is separated from its original surroundings—the sea and cultivated landscape behind it.	The summer villa landscape is significantly fragmented (construction).	The original land use of the summer villa landscape is not preserved.

criteria for the three main models of summer villa landscape transformation are defined, which are applied to the researched case studies (

Table 5. Models of transformation of the summer villa landscape.

Summer Villas/Model Features	1. Skočibuha (UNESCO Buffer Zone)	2. Sorgo (UNESCO Buffer Zone)	3. Caboga (UNESCO Buffer Zone)	4. Stay (Outside UNESCO Buffer Zone)	5. Bozdari (Outside UNESCO Buffer Zone)	6. Sorgo—Skala (Outside UNESCO Buffer Zone)	7. Resti (Outside UNESCO Buffer Zone)	8. Gozze (Outside UNESCO Buffer Zone)
Level of preservation of the original perimeter wall of the summer villa	Preserved	Preserved	Partially preserved	Partially preserved	Partially preserved	Partially preserved	Preserved	Preserved
Fragmentation of the summer villa landscape caused by construction	Fragmented	Partially fragmented	Fragmented	Fragmented	Not fragmented	Fragmented	Fragmented	Fragmented
Original land use of the summer villa landscape	Not preserved	Partially preserved	Not preserved	Not preserved	Preserved	Not preserved	Not preserved	Not preserved
Separation from the seascape	/	Separated	Separated	Separated	Separated	Partially separated	Not separated	Separated
Historical connections “from” and “to” the summer villa	Partially preserved, reaffirmation needed	Not preserved, new pedestrian route constructed	Neglected, possible restoration	Neglected, possible restoration	Neglected, possible restoration	Partially preserved, possible reconstruction	Original sea access preserved	Not preserved
Possibility of establishing a PZSV	Not possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Possible to establish a PZSV	Not possible to establish a PZSV
MODEL	III	I	II	II	I	II	II	III
SCENARIO	III	I	II	II	I	II	II	III

).

The first model enables the planning and establishment of the protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV). The second model enables partial planning and establishment of the protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV), while in the third model the PZSV cannot be planned and established.

The Bozdari summer villa falls under model I (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6 and Figure 9) since the landscape behind the summer villa has been completely preserved and the road that cut off direct access to the sea did not compromise its setting as the sea view of the summer villa and the original natural landscape at its back have been preserved. The Resti summer villa falls under model II (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 7 and Figure 9) because the original seascape and access to the sea have been completely preserved, while the lateral sides next to the perimeter wall of the summer villa are used as dry docks, which is a reversible intervention—land use that could be transformed again in the summer villa landscape. The perimeter wall of the summer villa has largely been preserved and in the past represented the historical boundary between private lodgings and the agricultural landscape of the summer villa. Today, the problem is the residential area built beyond the perimeter wall at the back of the summer villa, which significantly degrades its setting (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 7 and Figure 9). The Gozze summer villa falls under model III since its immediate landscape has been degraded due to residential construction to the point that some buildings were built right on its west perimeter wall, which permanently compromises the integrity of the summer villa (Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 8 and Figure 9). The historical paths “from” and “to” the summer villa have been preserved to varying degrees in these three examples. Although overgrown, the historical paths from the Bozdari summer villa can be revitalized and connected to the route of the 1437 Early Renaissance Ragusan aqueduct. The sea access of the Resti summer villa, i.e., its original seafront setting, has been preserved. The Gozze summer villa will be integrated into the city fabric by way of a new pedestrian route system, still in its planning stage.

Based on the identified general models and their features (Table 4), the remaining summer villas were allocated to their respective models (Table 5): Sorgo (No.2) and Bozdari (No.5) would fall under model I, while Bona—Caboga (No.3), Stay (No.4), and Sorgo—Skala (No.6) would fall under model II. Skočibuha (No.1) and Gozze (No.8) would fall under model III. The level of preservation/restoration of the summer villa within its perimeter wall and the architectural excellence of the summer villa and its garden should not be confused here with the possibility of preserving its setting, i.e., with the features of the summer villa’s immediate landscape. For example, the possibilities to preserve the setting of the Bozdari and Resti summer villas and to establish PZSVs are, despite their dilapidated state, far greater than for the Skočibuha, Sorgo—Skala, or Gozze summer villas (Figure 4 and Figure 5).

3.6. Possible Scenarios of Protection and Enhancement of Summer Villa Landscapes and Reintegration of Summer Villas into the City Fabric

A more efficient protection of the summer villa landscapes and the summer villas themselves requires plans that would recognize landscapes around this heritage as a separate urban plan category. In this context, this research suggests the introduction of a protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV) on the urban planning level. The protective zone of a summer villa cannot be uniformly defined due to the differences in topographical features of individual sites and, recently, due to the fact that summer villa landscapes have mostly been built on and have lost their original land use.

Based on the conducted research and the interpretation of the analysis results, three possible fundamental scenarios have been identified that would ensure the protection of the immediate landscape of summer villas, i.e., the establishment of PZSVs on the urban planning level as a basis for the (re)integration of the summer villas into the fabric of the contemporary city.

The first scenario involves the preservation and enhancement of the existing state, where it was established under model I that the immediate historical landscape of the villa has been largely preserved from construction and that it is possible to plan and establish a PZSV. The size of the preserved area enables a series of interventions to restore the original surface cover (olive groves, orchards, natural vegetation), as well as the revitalization of historical paths and access routes to the summer villa (Figure 9).

The second scenario, which correlates with model II, involves activities that imply change, i.e., adaptation and applying new planning guidelines to prevent construction in the immediate landscape of the summer villa and to regulate the distance between building plots and the summer villa plot in terms of the number of floors in the building on the building plot, its architectural style, and the building plot matrix (house–garden relationship) (Figure 9). This scenario includes a series of planning measures to develop the existing and new access routes to the summer villa that are not necessarily historical (e.g., planning tree-lined avenues, greenbelts, pavements, cycling paths), thus enabling a higher level of integration of the summer villas into the city fabric.

The third scenario precludes planning and the establishment of a PZSV (Figure 9) and involves only minor measures to mitigate the current state (e.g., tree-lined avenues along the existing roads and buildings to soften the views of the built plots right next to the summer villas). In addition, the revaluation of the summer villas falling under model III would mean using the existing and new paths to include these summer villas in the summer villa network, or “summer villa trails“ modeled after “wine routes” and “olive oil routes“, thus defining a recognizable summer villa system by which they would be integrated into the city fabric. Recognizing the summer villa system will ensure that these places are recognized today as historical places of the gathering of the nobility, and in the future, not just individually recognized as cultural sites for different cultural manifestations, but also as historically important agricultural spots of the historic Dubrovnik that will present traditional plants, land cultivation, crafts, dishes, famous people who lived and worked there, etc. The creation of a systematic and clearly recognizable network that encompasses contemporary walking, sea, and cycling routes enables the revaluation of the Dubrovnik summer villas as a whole, thus reaffirming even the ones whose setting has lost its essential identity features, including its countryside landscape and historical access routes.

4. Discussion

This research had two main aims: by using the selected examples of the Dubrovnik summer villas, we aimed to determine the original land use of the immediate landscapes of the Dubrovnik summer villas as their inseparable component and the level of their preservation today as well as how the summer villas with their surrounding landscapes are and can be integrated into the city fabric. The level of preservation of the summer villa landscape was determined by analyzing the original, historical use of the summer villa landscape, prior to contemporary interventions and construction that occurred during the 20th and 21st centuries on the once picturesque agricultural landscape of the summer villas.

It was determined that the summer villa landscapes were in the past functionally and aesthetically directly connected to the summer villas, making them extremely important to the countryside setting of the summer villas, and that these connections have significantly weakened over the past two centuries. At first, this was largely due to the changes in the use of the summer villas themselves, which lost their status as economic centers and lodgings of noble families very soon after the fall of the Republic of Dubrovnik. Because of this, the efficient use and management of immediate landscapes were rarely applied. The fact that the urbanization processes of the 20th century significantly “ate away” the country landscape of the summer villas, whose ownership structure changed over the centuries, is equally important; interventions carried out at the time had almost no consideration for the fact that landscape is an intrinsic part of a summer villa. This was a period marked by the momentum of planned construction of multi-apartment settlements but also by significant occurrences of illegal housing construction, especially visible in the example of Rijeka dubrovačka, which has been a protected landscape since 1964.

In recent history, measures for the protection of landscapes of the summer villas in the area of Dubrovnik have so far not been successful in preserving them. First of all, the protection of the summer villa landscape has “failed” due to the fact that the operational tools for the protection of the summer villa landscape have not been adequately incorporated into the urban planning documentation, and consequently on the project level.

The part of the summer villas that are the subject of analysis were not part of the UNESCO buffer zone of the historical area of Dubrovnik until recently (2018), so the monitoring of that area within the UNESCO framework is yet to be done. But it is questionable how it will be monitored as the summer villas are actually “drowned” into the recently extended buffer area, and are not protected as individual UNESCO heritage sites. This research has shown that there is no difference in the treatment of summer villas within or outside the UNESCO buffer zone.

Some of the summer villas in this research have undergone or are undergoing restoration, but structures constructed over time in their immediate landscape have ruined their value and the overall experiential value, as well as their cultural landscapes—the setting—of most of them. Without their countryside landscape, summer villas are stripped of their core morphological and typological features but also of an important part of their experiential aspect. It is important both from the point of view of the cultural heritage per se and the point of view of preserving landscape/territory for the future, but also from the tourist point of view to present these densely grouped villas within a setting as similar as possible to their original use. The intention of this paper was to draw attention to the need to establish planning principles of preservation and reconstruction of their immediate landscape, which contributes to the countryside settings of the summer villas themselves.

The seascape is an equally important type of landscape for those summer villas that have been built along the coast in the Dubrovnik region since preserving contact with the sea is their core typological feature that also visually contributes to the specific setting of a summer villa. In terms of space, it is important to preserve this connection as a point of access to the summer villa (port). These immediate landscapes of the summer villas are today used for different purposes. Historical pedestrian routes embedded in the landscape have for centuries created logical connections in the landscape. In this research, we emphasize the importance of the preservation and revaluation of historical routes, and in cases where this is not possible, the establishment of new pedestrian ones, in order to integrate the summer villas into a recognizable system and into the city fabric.

It is not possible to completely stop the changes in the landscape surrounding the summer villas, but it is possible to manage it, respecting what has been found and trying to preserve or reconstruct the original characters of the summer villa landscapes. From the conducted research, we conclude that during the last centuries, several processes took place in the landscape that we are analyzing: once natural landscapes were cultivated, and became the agricultural rural landscape of summer villas, it remained like that until the end of the 19th century, when that cultivated landscape was converted into urban landscape, and today, under the conditions of abandonment of cultivated agricultural landscapes, the relics of free, undeveloped areas are once again partly passing from cultivated to natural landscapes, i.e., small relics left to natural succession.

This research has shown that a portion of the existing built landscapes of the summer villas can be enhanced. The analysis and comparison of the current state and plans have shown that the summer villa landscape should be systematically evaluated on the planning level, and that in the planning process, special attention should be paid to defining protected areas around the summer villas essential for their setting, which is termed the protective zone of a summer villa—PZSV in this paper.

In the case of Dubrovnik summer villas, due to the fragmentation caused by construction in the historic landscape, it is not possible to establish protective zones around the entire area of the densely grouped summer villas, i.e., to establish summer villa landscape in continuum. In regard to the fact that every summer villa has its specific features and relations with the surrounding landscape, and the possibilities of the enhancement of its setting, this research accentuates the need for establishing a PZSV for every individual summer villa. In that way, formed PZSVs would take into consideration the wider urban context and the necessity of regulating the relationships in it, with regard to every single villa. In comparison with the UNESCO buffer zone, a PZSV would be smaller in size (in a certain ratio with the villa and its surrounding), where the possibility of construction would be excluded, with (re)evaluated historical and new connections “from” and “to” the summer villa by which these summer villas would be connected in a recognizable system. Planned land use in immediate summer villa landscapes (PZSV), would also differ in relation to the free space in the surroundings of the summer villa, in relation to the use of a single summer villa and its historical, as well as the present and planned, land use in the close vicinity of summer villa.

As landscape is a construct of interaction between man and nature, i.e., it has a social dimension, a PZSV could be planned as a historic memory of a space, as some relics of agricultural areas that can be read at least as narrow strips of vegetation. It could demonstrate mosaics of autochthonous fruit plantations with workshops on traditional techniques of planting and maintaining these reconstructed landscapes. In this context, these areas for individual summer villas, depending on their future purposes, could also serve for tourist purposes in terms of promoting the authentic agriculture of the area.

The results of this research may provide a framework for drafting urban planning guidelines (evaluation phase, defining corresponding model, determination of PZSV) for the restoration of summer villas on the conservation and project documentation level as a basis for the preservation and enhancement of the historical landscapes of the summer villas in general.

5. Conclusions

This research into the landscape of the eight selected summer villas has identified changes in the land use and extent of the historical landscape of the summer villas and in the access to summer villas over the past two centuries.

The research leads to the following conclusions:

Historical land use of the summer villa landscapes—situations according to the 1837 Austrian cadastral register and its revision from 1870s: the analysis of these registers has shown that the landscapes of all summer villas served as agricultural land, which is their original setting. It has also shown that the historical paths of the summer villas were preserved up until the middle of the 19th century.

Present land use of the summer villa landscapes—situation according to orthoimagery from 2024: the analysis of the current use of the summer villas points to significant changes in their immediate landscape, mainly the loss of the original land use, and in general, the unsuitable construction right next to the summer villas, which has compromised their setting.

Level of preservation of the historical landscapes of the summer villas: the immediate landscape of the summer villas within the UNESCO buffer zone of Dubrovnik has not been more preserved than that of the summer villas outside it.

Formal protection of the historical landscapes of summer villas: the formal aspect of protection of the landscape of Rijeka dubrovačka has not contributed to a higher level of protection of the summer villas located there, indicating that there is a need to embed the principles of preservation of the immediate landscape of summer villas into the existing urban planning guidelines.

Planned land use of the summer villa landscapes—according to the General Urban Plan of Dubrovnik: the analysis of urban planning guidelines points to a partial rather than a systematic recognition of the need to preserve the immediate landscape of the summer villas. Excluding certain exceptions related to the subsequent rectification of planning omissions from earlier periods, the category of a protected area of summer villas as the basis for the preservation of the setting of summer villas, termed the protective zone of a summer villa in this paper, has not been recognized.

Protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV): a PZSV should be planned and determined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the extent of unbuilt landscape in the immediate surroundings of a summer villa, the possibility of restoring its historical or comparable land use, and based on the topography of the site.

Models of transformation of the summer villa landscapes: the general models of transformation of the historical landscape of summer villas have been recognized on a general level: the model of completely preserved immediate historical landscape of a summer villa; the model of partially preserved immediate historical landscape of a summer villa; and the model of complete transformation of the historical landscape of a summer villa.

Possible scenarios of protection of the summer villa landscapes and reintegration of the summer villas into the city fabric: three main scenarios for planning and establishing a PZSV have been identified. In the first scenario, a PZSV can be planned and established and the historical access routes to a summer villa can be revalued largely by preserving their current state. In the second scenario, a partial PZSV can be planned and established in line with the model of partially preserved immediate historical landscape of a summer villa. The third scenario corresponds to the model of complete transformation of the summer villa landscape, where a PZSV cannot be planned and only certain measures can be implemented to mitigate the current state.

In this research, we were primarily guided by the planning and conservation principles that the immediate landscape of the summer villas should be preserved from construction. This is why the term protective zone of a summer villa (PZSV) was defined to indicate the first important step on the urban planning level in preserving the landscape of summer villas—their setting.