The Grand Walking Tour of Dubrovnik, Part 1
Perfect day for walking the streets of Dubrovnik. Weather is absolutely beautiful, little on the warm side with temp around 77F but no rain! Only downside is the number of tours that are here, every day. Today there is only 1 cruise ship in port, but lots of bus tours. No biggie, we’ll just deal with the crowds.
Our plan is to circle the town starting with the steepest area and work our way down. Like everything here, the Old City is built on the side of a very steep hill so lots of steps. Good thing about it, keeps most tourists down in the center and not in the upper parts. But before heading up the hill, there’s a few sites we need to see.
The entrance to the Old City is through one of two gates, the Pile Gate or the Ploce Gate. The Pile Gate is a land gate by the bus stop so that’s the way in. Built in 1537, this gate has a wooden drawbridge, a moat and a statue of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik. The gate was originally protected by a separate fort across the bay, Fort Bokar. There is so much foot traffic through this gate they have installed a rope divider for traffic going in, and traffic going out.
Pile Gate
Ft. Bokar
Pile Gate entrance to the Old City
The entire Old City is enclosed by fortifications of thick, steep walls with walkways and bastions. The protective wall system is 1.3 miles long and for a mere 35EUR (per person) you can walk completely around the Old City. We’ll check that out tomorrow.
Once inside you’re on the main street of the city, the Stradum. This street may look familiar to Star Wars fans as it was used in Episode VIII, The Last Jedi. There are scads of restaurants, gift shops, and coffee bars scattered along this street. It’s also the intersection for all those steep stairs leading to the side streets, and some of the Old City’s main sites. First one we came to is the Onofrio fountain.
The Stradum
In 1436, the city was in need of a water source. One was found at a spring located 7 miles outside the city. Now they needed a way to get the water to the city. That’s when Onofrio Giordano della Cava come into the picture. He and his partner Andreucius Bulbito designed and oversaw the building of an aqueduct. At then end of this aqueduct, they built two fountains, one large one by Pile Gate; one small one by Ploce Gate. The water still flows through these fountains.
Large Onofrio Fountain
The first of many churches is also located on this street, Saint Saviour church. Saint Saviour church is a votive church and was built in 1520 as thanks for sparing the city from total destruction from the 1667 earthquake. It is a single nave church with a Gothic cross-ribbed vault ceiling. The architecture is Early Renaissance with vaulted domes and rounded arches. Today the church is used for concerts.
Saint Saviours Church
Next to Saint Saviours church is the Franciscan Monastery. A unique feature with this monastery is a stone protruding from the wall by the entrance. Most people don’t notice it but legend has it, if you can stand on this stone and remove / put back on your shirt, your wish will be granted. I’m thinking someone came up with this as a con especially with all the tourists clamming through the area. Still, I tried to get Collette to do it but she didn’t think she could stand on the block.
Tower of the Franciscan Monastery on the Stradum
The Good Luck stone
The monastery also houses the 3rd oldest pharmacy in Europe. The Friar’s Minor Pharmacy was opened in the 13th century and operates to this day. The building was severely damaged in the quake of 1667 and rebuilt in Baroque style as seen in the highly ornate nave.
The Nave
The Altar
Side pulpit with a hand holding the cross
The hand
The Pharmacy
Strolling up the hill through some very narrow stairways, some even had small cafes lining the steps, we finally come to the top street and a view of the Gornji Ugno tower (also known as the Minceta Tower). Under this tower is an ancient foundry and forge for early metal works. The outside of the tower was fortified by the Minceta family in 1439, to help protect the city against invasion.
Mom-Bear hitting the stairs
Gornji Tower(Minceta Tower)
On this upper tier is the Dominican monastery. Originally built in the 14th century just behind the Ploce Gate, it features a set of stairways leading to the church and a statue of Saint Dominic. Like many other churches in Dubrovnik, this one is also a museum of religious artifacts.
Altar piece from 15th century unrestored
Dominican Monastery cloister 15th century Gothic
Martydom of St. Vincent
Dominican monastery cloister
Reliquaries 15th-16th century