Dubrovnik and Dalmacija travel guide

Church of
St Saviour
The staid Renaissance
façade does little to hint
at the colour inside. Here
regular concerts (above)
and art exhibitions, often
with work by modern
Dalmatian artists, are held.
Onofrio’s Little
Fountain
Tucked into a building by
the Rector’s Palace, this
“little sister” to the large
Onofrio fountain often
goes unnoticed. It dates
from the 15th century.
Church of St Blaise
This church (right) sits
at the top of the Stradun.
Inside, Dubrovnik’s patron
saint, St Blaise, cradles a
model of the city showing
what it looked like before
the earthquake of 1667.
Franciscan
Monastery
The dark cloisters
and lush vegetation
of this 14th-century
monastery conjure
up echoes of the
Dubrovnik of old,
as do the fascinating
exhibits of the
Monastery Museum.
Arrive early to avoid
the crowds (see
pp12–13).
Clocktower
A striking timepiece
(right), this clocktower
dates from the 15th
century. Overhauled in
1929, the duo of bell
strikers visible today are
copies. The originals are
in the Sponza Palace.
Sponza Palace
The inscription “We
are forbidden to cheat
and use false measures,
and when I weigh goods,
God weighs me”, reveals
this early-16th-century
palace’s former role as
the city’s customs house
and mint. Today it is home
to the State Archives and
the Museum to the
Dubrovnik Defenders.
Orlando’s
Column
Mystery surrounds
the statue (left) that
guards the spot
where the Stradun
unfurls into Luža
Square. Some
locals claim that
this legendary
knight saved the
city from disaster
when he fought off
menacing pirates in
the 8th century.
Earthquake of
1667
The earthquake of 1667
tore the heart out of
Gothic and Renaissance
Dubrovnik, killing 5,000
of its citizens and
reducing many of its
key buildings to rubble.
This terrible tragedy
paved the way for the
construction of one of
the most impressive
Baroque cities in
Europe. Carefully
planned to sit within
the protective confines
of the sturdy city walls,
it resisted all intruders
until the arrival of
Napoleonic troops in
the early 19th century.
Dubrovnik & the Dalmatian Coast
For Dubrovnik’s best cafés See p65
11