Franciscan Church, Franjevačka crkva, Dubrovnik, Croatia Near the beginning of the Stradun by the Pile Gate, there is a large, plain stretch of building, punctuated by two doors: one has a fairly standard and classical portal – but the other is somewhat more special. This unprepossessing building is actually the church of the Franciscans, whose monastery is just behind. The…
Franciscan Monastery, Franjevački samostan, Dubrovnik, Croatia Snuck in between the Holy Saviour Church and the Franciscan Church is a little passageway that leads to the latter’s monastery. This building also contains what is proudly proclaimed to be the third oldest, still functioning, pharmacy in Europe. And it’s all very pretty. The monastery was originally built outside the Ragusan walls in…
Dominican Monastery, Dominikanski samostan, Dubrovnik, Croatia There seems to be a considerable amount of confusion on tourist review sites as to the difference between two monasteries in Dubrovnik. One is for the Franciscans, and has an old and new pharmacy; the other is for the Dominicans, and doesn’t. But it does have a lovely collection of art in its museum…
Holy Saviour Church, Crkva sv. Spasa, Dubrovnik, Croatia Gee, what a cute little church! And it’s a rare survivor of the 1667 earthquake! Awesome! The Holy Saviour Church is, though, prettier on the outside than on the inside. The outside is absolutely wonderful, with cute little cherubs and random little faces carved into the decorative elements. It is a little…
Sponza Palace, Palača Sponza, Dubrovnik, Croatia At the end of the glistening Stradun there is a little hub where in every direction you can find something interesting. By the landmark clock tower is the elegant building of the Sponza Palace. And it’s very special: it survived the 1667 earthquake! This is a real, old Ragusan building, and all the more special…
Walls of Dubrovnik, Dubrovačke gradske zidine, Dubrovnik, Croatia The city of Dubrovnik is very special – and one of the things that makes it so is the fact that it’s a cute little toy town, cuddled by defensive walls. The effect is very picturesque when viewed from a distance, but it’s really amazing to be able to walk along the…
Cavtat, Croatia Fancying a short-ish (and cheap) boat trip, we decided to go to the coastal town of Cavtat south of Dubrovnik. It’s a popular tourist destination itself, with lots of hotels and eateries. In early April, when we visited, it was very quiet and pleasant – not bustle-y and much more relaxing than Dubrovnik had already become with its…
The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, Katedrala Marijina Uznesenja, Dubrovnik, Croatia It’s amazing just how often I find it impossible to get into churches: they’re either closed or they’ve got services going on. We tried a couple of times to force our way into Dubrovnik Cathedral, but didn’t have any luck until we were walking past randomly and finally grabbed…
Lokrum Island, Croatia It’s funny how there are some places which seem quite interesting, but you look on the internet for pictures to gauge just how interesting, and then decide that you can’t tell, and then go anyway. As it turns out, the trip to the island of Lokrum, visible from Dubrovnik, is just the most delightful little place –…
St. Blaise Church, Crkva Sv. Vlaha, Dubrovnik, Croatia The sweetly pretty little church dedicated to Saint Blaise (St. Vlaho in Croatian), is a popular hub of Dubrovnik. It’s an extremely picturesque spot, situated at the end of the Stradun and even the swarms of tourist groups that hang around there don’t completely stifle the charm. St Blaise is Dubrovnik’s patron saint –…
St Ignatius Church, Crkva svetoga Ignacija, Dubrovnik, Croatia Some churches speak to you more than others. Sometimes you know the reason why – you can identify the aspects of it which appeal to you. Other times, you don’t have any specific reason, you just know the you feel at home there. Such was the amount of affection we had for…
Srđ Hill, Dubrovnik, Croatia Now, I’m not good with heights. Or anything that involves sheer drops. Or anything shooting across a sheer drop via some puny wires. Every trip into Dubrovnik old town involved, at some stage, a point towards the cable car running up to the top of Srđ Hill. Every time Sister-Chickpea and I would speculate about the…