Medieval Đakovo had its legends, the most famous one of which is the story of resurrection of the dead in the Đakovo Franciscan monastery. It was described, in fact rescued from oblivion, by Stanko Andrić in his text Ghosts in the Monastery – An Episode from the Hungarian-Bosnian-Franciscan History.
The Three Gates od Pavić Street
Still, the most famous Đakovo legend was depicted in the ballad The Three Gates of Pavić Street (Pavićanske tri kapije), which describes the town’s Romeo and Juliet. These three gates lead to three houses that still exist today, and were once inhabited by employees of the Diocese: the first housed winegrowers, with a grapevine relief on the façade; the second housed woodsmen, symbolized by the oak leaves relief on the façade; while the third house was inhabited by musicians, symbolized by the lyre relief on the facade. At one of the gates, a tragedy happened some hundred years ago – a young man, likely head over heels in love, pulled a knife and ended his life during a romantic argument. To commemorate this tragic event, a mournful ballad was created – The Three Gates of Pavić Street. Eugen Nirjak and Mirko Kladarić recorded the earliest verses of that ballad, and the band Slavonske Lole together with the singer Vera Svoboda recorded the song at the beginning of the 1990s and saved it from oblivion. On top of that, perhaps the most famous family of musicians in Đakovo lived in one of these houses for a while!
Meteorid in Đakovo?
An unusual stone, suspected to be a meteoroid by the local people, is located in a prominent spot in the Strossmayer park. Unfortunately, it is just a chert specimen of terrestrial origin, probably leftover construction material of the Cathedral, but interesting enough to inspire the imagination of the local people and their guests.
