Dubrovnik

In 1416, this small city-state banned the slave trade, centuries before most of Europe and the Americas would do the same. Back then it was called Ragusa. Today we call it Dubrovnik.

Ragusa was obsessed with one idea: freedom. The word Libertas, Latin for liberty, was carved over its gates and stitched onto its white flag.

For centuries, this tiny republic stayed independent by being clever instead of strong. It kept few soldiers and survived by paying tribute to bigger powers, the Ottomans included, and out-negotiating everyone around it. While Venice conquered with fleets, Ragusa won with paperwork.

It was ahead of its time in other ways too, running one of Europe's first quarantine systems and a public pharmacy that opened in 1317 and still operates today.

Then the ground betrayed it. On April 6, 1667, an earthquake leveled three-quarters of the city in seconds and killed thousands. Ragusa rebuilt in the Baroque style you see now but never regained its power. In 1808, Napoleon's army abolished the republic for good.

Dubrovnik's most recent wound is still raw. In 1991, during Croatia's war of independence, the Yugoslav People's Army besieged the city for seven months and shelled the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The world watched in outrage, and the damage was later repaired stone by stone.

Today the city is just as famous as King's Landing from Game of Thrones.

Walk the full loop of the city walls, up to 25 meters high and never breached by an enemy, for the best views of the red rooftops and the sea. Stroll the Stradun, the polished limestone main street, and step into the old pharmacy inside the Franciscan monastery.

Ride the cable car up Mount Srđ to look down on the whole walled city. Eat fresh oysters from nearby Ston and black squid-ink risotto, then cool off with a swim straight off the rocks below the walls.