one strikingly different feature

One feature about the old city of Dubrovnik that roused my curiosity was the width of the main street through the old city.  I've had the pleasure of walking through several old cities but I don't remember any where the streets were 20+ feet wide. Usually they are much narrower.  I finally got the explanation from a guide - turns out that what is now the main paved streets (paved by the way with shiny light limestone that has become so polished with use over the ages that it looks like marble) used to be a canal separating two competing cities.  According to the legend (there is always a legend), people from the two different cities began to meet and marry at such a rate that having to go to bridges to get over the canal became such a bother that they decided to simply pave it over. good decision.