IVAN GUNDULIĆA STREET

Ivan Gundulića Street

Today's Ivana Gundulića Street in Metković was created in the mid-19th century, when the Liman embankment created new space for the construction of residential and commercial buildings on both sides of the Mostar-Metković road, west of Plokata, today's King Tomislav Square. The creation of this street also marks the spatial expansion of the city to the foot of the Predolac hill, whose owners were the wealthier Metković families who were mainly involved in trade and other activities related to the port. These are massive stone buildings that usually had business premises for commercial and catering facilities on the ground floor, such as cafes and inns, while the upper floors contained residential space, which was mainly decorated in the bourgeois style of the time. Although the buildings on this street partly followed the models of traditional architecture in their design, the design of their facades and simple Art Nouveau decorations, usually around the windows, are characterized by their modernity. The most significant examples are the houses of Golijan, Popović, Anđelopolj, Šakota and Jelavić, which have architectural features from the turn of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the street was enriched with the planting of an avenue of trees, which today consist of holm oak trees, and the street was known as Aleja Franje Josipa.