• Travelsignposts Home
  • Country Guides
  • City Guides
  • River Cruises
  • Europe Photos
  • About Us

Croatia Travel

  • Home
  • Photos
  • Map
  • Weather
  • Site Map
  • Destinations
  • Sightseeing
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Getting around
  • Useful facts
  • News & Events
You are here: Home / Featured / Things to See in Dubrovnik

Things to See in Dubrovnik

By Helen Page 1 Comment

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Things to See in Dubrovnik – Some Dubrovnik Attractions:

Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik

Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik


Contained within the medieval city walls of Dubrovnikare the monuments and sights that tell of the history of its beautiful Old Town (Stari Grad). Starting from the Pile Gate, we take a walking tour down the Stradun and the other narrow streets of the Old Town to see some of the Dubrovnik’s most important monuments and to get a feel for this historical city.

Dubrovnik Attractions

Great Onofrio Fountain
This interesting fountain is just next to the Pile Gate and is a good meeting point. It was built by Onofrio della Cava to commemorate the completion of the new waterworks in 1438.  The waterworks supplied the city with water from the Dubrovnik River, 12 kilometres away.

Franciscan Monastery
Just across from the Fountain is this 1317 monastery.  Within the monastery is a pharmacy which was founded at the same time as the monastery, making it one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe. The monastery library is also noted to be one of the most important old libraries in Croatia and in the world.

Stradun (officially called the Placa)
This central stone street of the Old City was built in 1667 after the great earthquake destroyed the city.  Walking down the Stradun, imagine what it was like before the earthquake, when it was lined with lovely and luxurious palaces.

Dubrovnik Stari Grad

Dubrovnik Old Town

Orlando’s Column
Near the Clock Tower in the Square of the Loggia is a stone column with the figure of a medieval warrior bearing a sword and shield standing on a pedestal. Orlando’s statue is a symbol of the freedom of Dubrovnik and the flag of the Republic always flies on top of this column.

At the base of Orlando’s Column is a line measuring 51.2 cm. People used this to measure their textile purchase here to make sure that they have not been ripped off.

As you stroll down the Stradun, don’t forget to look at some of the side lanes off the Stradun that lead to the upper level of the Old Town. One particular lane was decorated with beautiful plants and was a feature of our city walk.

Dubrovnik Stari Grad

Dubrovnik Old Town

The Rector’s Palace
Turing right, at the end of the Stradun is the Rector’s Palace. This is where the highest level of city government met.  The Dubrovnik Rector lived here, without his family, for the duration of his office which is limited to one month. Except for official business, he was not permitted to leave the palace. The rector was also responsible for the keys to the city.  Each evening a special ceremony was held in which he accepted the keys to the city gates and was responsible for ensuring that no one could enter into the town through the night.

The Sponza Palace
At the end of the Stradun is the Sponza Palace. This combination Gothic and Renaissance style palace was originally intended to be a custom’s housewhere traded goods from all over the world were brought here to be taxed. During its days, the palace courtyard and all the arcades were abuzz with traders and business people meeting here.

Rector's Palace

Sponza Palace

Cathedral and Treasury
Further along from the Rector’s Palace is the baroque Dubrovnik Cathedral with its great dome. Next to the church is the Cathedral Treasury which is famous for its collection of reliquaries and also a collection of sacred objects in gold.

Bokar Fortress
The purpose of this fortress was to defend the main entrance gates, drawbridge and moat at Pile.

Fort of St. John
The fort was the main defence for the city port and one of the most important defence fortresses of the city. This is a beautiful side of the city and definitely worth making your way to.  The Ploce Gate is also at this eastern end of the city.

Gradska Luka

Dubrovnik Old Port

Other Sites and Monuments of Interest

Other significant places of interest and monuments include the Dominican Monastery, Church of St. Blaise, Clock Tower and the Square of the Loggia.

Our two-day visit doesn’t really do Dubrovnik justice and one could easily spend a week here and not run out of things to see.

See our Dubrovnik photos at Travelsignposts Dubrovnik photo gallery Here.

Click here to get a free PDF of this post

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Featured, Sightseeing Tagged With: big fountain, dubrovnik attractions, dubrovnik old town, Onofrio Fountain, things to do in dubrovnik, what to do in dubrovnik, what to see in dubrovnik

avatar

About Helen Page

Helen Page is a prolific blogger and ardent traveller; she runs Travelsignposts with her professional writer and photographer husband Tony.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You can also find us on

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Additions

  • Krka and Trogir – Croatia Road Trip Part 4
  • Dubrovnik City Walls Walk
  • Things to See in Dubrovnik
  • Dubrovnik, the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’
  • Road Trip Through Croatia Part 3 – Zadar

Plan and Book Your Trip


eNews and Updates

feedburner Sign up now to get emailed news as well as other site updates!

Get the Guerrilla Travel Photography ebook here now!
City Guides
Country Guides
River Cruises

Who is behind Travelsignposts?

Helen and Tony Page at Singapore Changi Airport

We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!

Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!

Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but we've just launched Travelsignposts China and Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.

Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.

Other Countries

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Czech Republic
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • England
  • Estonia
  • Europe (General)
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

Resources

  • Take Better Digital Photos eBook Take Better Digital Photos eBook
  • Take Better Digital Photos Free eCourse
  • Travel Signposts Photo – our main travel photography site
  • Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook

Copyright Travelsignposts Pty Ltd © 2023 Log in

Get a free PDF of this post!
Just enter your email address below and we'll send it to you immediately.

Please enter your Email Address