Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik

(George Bernard Shaw)

With its numerous beautiful buildings, the magnificent walls, many museums and churches it is no coincidence that Dubrovnik has established itself as a world cultural center. Earthquakes, the most devastating in 1667 and fires have forced architectural changes throughout the city history. The grand Renaissance style of the pre year 1667, which is embodied in the Sponza and Rector´s palaces is gone to be replaced with a more somber Korčula white stone town. One of the buildings that has survived the natural disasters is Onofrio´s fountain which was completed in 1444 according to the Onofrio della Cava plans.



Every summer between July 10th and August 25th Dubrovnik hosts its Summer Festival where the Croatian and international artists stage many open air concerts and plays. There are two "mandatory" performances: the "Ode to Libery" and the Hamlet, that is played in the Fort St Lawrence.



The hub of public life for the old days was Luža square, just under the city bell tower and very near to Dubrovnik´s two most important buildings which survived the great earthquake in 1667: Sponza and Rector´s palaces. Sponza palace was built in the transitional Gothic-Renaissance style. It was architected by Paskoje Miličević and built by Josip Andrijić from Korčula white stone during 1516-1522. It housed mint and state treasury, customs house, a bank, and a grain warehouse. The Rector´s palace (Knežev dvor) hosts a very rich collection of Dubrovnik historic exhibits and portraits of Dubrovnik notables: Ivan Gundulić, Marin Getaldić, Nikola Bunić. It was built in the 15th century according to the design of Onofrio della Cava. The second floor Scientific Library has 90,000 volumes, many manuscripts and incunabula (15th century printings). The hall of the Great Concil, plus few adjoining rooms is a home of the town museum.



Dubrovnik old churches are the treasures of old art and architecture. The oldest are the Byzantine basilica at the place of the current Cathedral from the 7th century, the ruins of the pre-Romanesque Early Croatian church of St Stephen built on the old island. There is also Our Lady of Carmel (1628-1636) on the site of St John church. Dominican church and monastery were founded in the 13th century. The library is a home of 239 incunabula, many historic charters and illuminated codices. The monastery has Titian´s "St Mary Magdalene with St Blaise", triptychs by Miho Hamzić and Nikola Božidarević, Vasari´s "The Descent of the Holy Ghost", "The Annunciation" and "The Holy Family with Saints", by Nikola Božidarević. Close by are pre-Romanesque churches of St Nicholas and St Luke, and the 15th century synagogue, the oldest in southeast Europe. Near Fort Minčeta is St James church on Peline, only Romanesque building in Dubrovnik. The Franciscan monastery was built in Romanesque-Gothic style in 1317. The cloister was the work of Mihoje Brajkov of Bar in the first half of the 14th century. The monastery library holds 15 illuminated books of choir music, 22 incunabula, most of them from the 15th and 16th century. Next to the monastery is the church of the Holy Savior, 1520-1528. It hosts "The Ascension" by Pietro Antonio da Urbino from 1527. More about Dubrovnik could be found on the adjoining Dubrovnik walls pages.