Dubrovnik’s Timeless Beauty
If you can squeeze in only two seaside overnights in Croatia, make them the breathtaking coastal cities of Dubrovnik and Split in the southern historical region of Dalmatia. A mere 127 miles apart, each offers stunning vistas with time capsule-like “Old Cities.” And, if you can overlook the hordes of tourists, which lately seems to be the nature of European travel, both will give you a glimpse of past centuries and capture your imagination.
Today, I wrap up my 19-part Balkans series with a post about Dubrovnik, one of Croatia’s most visited and best-preserved historical sites. Since Croatia’s devastating Homeland War in the early 1990s, many vacationers have discovered this “Pearl of the Adriatic.” The wildly popular HBO series Game of Thrones was shot here, putting Croatia on the map for many people.
Travel is a deeply personal experience, but Dubrovnik’s historical city center offers something for every curious visitor.
Date of Visit: September 28, 2022
As we approached Dubrovnik, I flipped open my guidebook for an impromptu history lesson. Like Split and eight other historic sites in Croatia, the Old City of Dubrovnik is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What was life like for the medieval seafarers and merchants who built this beautiful city? I imagined how they must have lived in fear of the marauding Ottoman armies and Venetian naval power. This city-state was at the intersection of Christianity and Islam. It survived through diplomacy, bribes, and intelligence-sharing. But what was most surprising to me was that unlike Split, Pula, and Zadar, the ancient Romans never settled in Dubrovnik. Despite my 11th-hour history prep, when I first saw Fort Lovrijenac across from Dubrovnik’s imposing city walls, wouldn’t you know, a scene from Game of Thrones came to mind.
If you binge-watched that fanciful HBO series (2011-2019), it’s hard to forget “The Red Keep” and dreamy “Blackwater Bay” below the castle.
On the set, Fort Lovrijenac was the castle of Bran Stark, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, who resided in Kings Landing, the fictional capital city of Westeros.
In the real world, it’s an 11th-century fort that defended the western side of Dubrovnik against a Venetian attack that never came. I should have pictured invading Venetians (or Ottomans), not dragon attacks.
The truth is that computer-generated imagery of virtual worlds is often more memorable than history books. Hollywood props like the Iron Throne are also powerful visuals.
Did you know there are six replicas of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones that HBO hid around the world for fans to find in a scavenger hunt before the show’s eighth season?
HBO gifted an Iron Throne to Dubrovnik, which is now located on the Island of Lokrum and is part of a Game of Thrones visitor center.
In reality, dragon-free Dubrovnik was known as the Republic of Ragusa from 1358 until 1808. Its medieval walls are perched high above the turquoise Aegean Sea. During the Middle Ages, the city-state weathered three major earthquakes (1520, 1639, and 1667), and from 1990-1991, it was unconscionably shelled by Serbian and Montenegrin troops in Croatia’s fierce Homeland War. Croatia painstakingly repaired the damage, and thankfully, much of the Old City looks as it did in the late 1600s and 1700s after the earthquake repairs. For a summary of Dubrovnik’s turbulent history, see the Sidebar.
Map of Dubrovnik "Old City"
Self-Guided Tour Highlights
I have a few tips to help you prepare for your trip to Dubrovnik. I suggest browsing the city’s key historical points of interest on My Google Map, which includes a few scenic lookout spots outside the city that I don’t want you to miss. Once you arrive, I highly recommend picking up a visitor’s map of the Old City from The Dubrovnik Tourist Board Information Center. Once you enter the walled city through Pile Gate, you’ll see a cluster of noteworthy historical sights: the 16th-century Church of St. Savior, Onofrio’s Big Fountain, and the Franciscan Monastery Museum. More on these below in Top Sites In The Old City.
Top Sites In The Old City
My virtual walking tour map will take you from Pile Gate along the beautiful limestone-paved main street called Stradun, leading to the 16th-century Sponza Palace and Clock Tower. Don’t be confused by blog posts and reviews that refer to the stone pavers as marble. For the record, they are limestone from the nearby hills. The most notable buildings are located on either end of the Stradun. This main street has two names: Placa (Greek) and Stradun (Venetian). Though it’s hard to visualize, it was a water channel before Stradun became a street.
Rather than walk the Stradun when you first enter, you may walk along the Walls of Dubrovnik. The high walls provide a spectacular view of the inner city and its outskirts. I’ve included more information about the walls in Top Sites in the City.
I don’t know about you, but I appreciate a local tour guide’s perspective. My husband, Chris, and I hired a private guide our driving company recommended. Fortunately, Viator offers great group tours, and the Dubrovnik Early Bird Walking Tour* looks particularly good. That tour is about an hour and a half long, and you should be done before the crowds descend. Most Star Wars and Game of Thrones tours are no longer available, but your guides will likely mention where the shoots took place.
∗ Travelthefourcorners.com participates in the Travelpayouts.com Affiliate Program, which helps sites like mine earn advertising fees from top travel brands. Viator is part of the program. I earn a commission if you click and purchase; it doesn’t cost you extra..
Pile Gate Entrance
Pronounced “pee-leh,” this impressive main entrance gate was built in 1537, the same year that Klis Fortress, the gateway into Dalmatia, was under siege by the Ottomans. The residents must have been reassured when a statue of St. Blaise, the Patron Saint, was carved into the stone wall above the outer gate. My favorite modern Croatian sculptor, Ivan Meštrović, created the newer statue of St Blaise decorating the inner gate. Today, a stone bridge replaces the original wooden draw bridge that gatekeepers once lifted and lowered with a winch and counterweights morning and night.
City Walls and Minceta Tower
A 1.2-mile walk atop the 82 ft (25 meter) high City Walls built between the 13th and 17th centuries provides a birds-eye view of the walled city and sweeping views of the Aegean Sea. However, be warned that there are steep, uneven stone steps to ascend and descend. The entrance to the City Walls to the left of Pile Gate is the steepest. Fortunately, there are two other entrances, with fewer steps, one at Ploče Gate and the other at St. John’s Fortress (the Maritime Museum). The Dubrovnik Pass (buy one at the Tourist Board Information Center) will get you in. You can easily get back in if you accidentally exit at one of the three entrances. Aim for early morning or late afternoon to avoid the summer heat and year-round crowds from the cruise ships.
The wall walk gives you picture-perfect shots of Dubrovnik and Lokrum Island, a UNESCO nature reserve that is a 10-minute boat ride away. Legend has it that Richard the Lionhearted was shipwrecked on the island in 1192 on the way home from his third crusade. In Game of Thrones, Lokrum Island was the setting for the Quarth garden party, where the warlock, Pyat Pree, forebodingly invited Daenerys Targaryen to visit the House of the Undying.
At the highest point of the wall stands Minčeta Tower, a distinctive round fort built in 1319 and reinforced 100 years later to bolster defenses against the Ottomans. It offers superb views of Dubrovnik. As we walked around the tower’s base, I had the uncanny feeling that I had seen it before. Indeed I had. It was the exterior of Qarth’s House of Undying in GOT. Minčeta Tower was where Jorah Mormont followed Daenerys around the tower’s base, looking for her stolen dragons, when she disappeared with sorcery. Neither Chris nor I disappeared while walking around the tower, though I feebly tried to reenact the scene. Alas, there’s only so much you can do without CGI.
Here’s another breadcrumb for film buffs: The casino planet Canto Bight in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was also filmed atop the walls. The curious rabbit-eared space horses were stabled below in a side street.
Onofrio's Big Fountain
It is incredible that this fountain, decorated by sixteen mascaron ornaments, still bears the name of an architect who lived in the 15th century. His name was Onofrio di Giordano della Cava, and he cleverly designed and built an aqueduct to carry water from a small spring-fed village outside the city to this well. The aqueduct replaced cisterns that often ran dry during droughts. Before the aqueduct, the residents had to rely on ships to deliver fresh water. The aqueduct supplied water to several fountains in the Old City: Onofrio’s Small Fountain, one in Rector’s Palace, and a Jewish Fountain.
Church of St. Saviour
I include the Church of St. Saviour in my walking tour because it is one of the few remaining Renaissance-era buildings in Dubrovnik. It was built as an offering of gratitude after the 1520 earthquake and survived the more devastating earthquake in 1667 that killed thousands. From May to October, candle-lit concerts are held here.
Franciscan Monastery Museum
Located just inside the entrance of Pile Gate, the Franciscan Monastery Museum was built in 1317 in the Romanesque-Gothic style and rebuilt in the Baroque style after burning in the raging fire that followed the 1667 earthquake. A library was added in the 17th century, and a theological preparatory was built in 1896.
Orlando's Column
This column, which stands near the City Bell Tower in Luza Square, was used for public proclamations and punishments in the Middle Ages. It was also known as the Pillar of Shame. The likeness of the legendary Frankish boy-knight Orlando (aka Roland) and his indestructible sword is carved into the stone to honor the Kingdom of Croatia under the Hungarian crown. Legend says that Orlando fought off the Saracens to save Dubrovnik in the 9th century. Dubrovnik’s clothiers decided that the statue’s forearm, measuring 51.25 centimeters (a little over 20 inches long), would be the standard measurement to cut fabric.
Sponza Palace
In the early 1500s, Sponza Palace (an architectural blend of original Gothic and Renaissance styles with inner courtyards) was a customs house and mint. It was one of a handful of buildings to survive the Dubrovnik 1667 earthquake. Today, it is home to Dubrovnik’s State Archives and a Museum honoring the Dubrovnik Defenders who died defending the city during the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s.
The archives display documents from the 13th-century notary and secretarial services up through the fall of the Republic in 1808 and beyond to the French, Habsburg, Yugoslav, and Croatian eras.
The Clock Tower
Dubrovnik’s Bell Tower is 102 feet (31 meters) high and rises above Sponza Palace in Luža Square. The original bell tower was built in 1444, but earthquakes took their toll (no pun intended) in the 1500s and 1600s. The tower was demolished and reconstructed in 1929 after it began to lean. It was restored in the 1980s to repair damages from the 1979 earthquake in neighboring Montenegro. Later it weathered two projectiles during the Croatian Homeland War in the 1990s. Unlike many other bell towers in Croatia, this one is not open to visitors.
Small Onofrio's Fountain
After architect Onofrio della Cava built Big Onofrio’s fountain in front of the St. Savior church, he built this smaller fountain under the Bell Tower in Luza Square. It is an elegant fountain decorated with cherubs and dolphins, the work of stone mason Pietro di Martino of Milan. It, too, was fed by the aqueduct. Like the other fountains, it is safe to drink from, but occasionally, the water is turned off.
St. Blaise's Church
Legend has it that the Patron Saint of Dubrovnik, St. Blaise, saved Dubrovnik from an attack by the Venetians. Originally built in 1368 in Romanesque architecture, the church was damaged in the earthquake of 1667 and finally destroyed in a fire in 1706. A Venetian architect rebuilt it in the Baroque style. Today it is a popular wedding ven
Rector's Palace (Cultural History Museum)
The Rector’s Palace was built in the 13th century, but after gunpowder explosions in 1435 and 1463 and the 1667 earthquake and subsequent fire, it was rebuilt several times and now blends Venetian-inspired Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural features. When Dubrovnik was the Republic of Ragusa (1358 until 1808), the rector lived beside the government offices.
Since the 1950s, it’s been the home of the Cultural History Museum. Portraits of Dubrovnik’s aristocrats, collections of seals and crests, weaponry, and coins minted by the Republic over its 450-year span are on display, as are the keys to the city gates. Sadly, many of the city’s artifacts were taken by Napleon’s army. Today, the interior atrium and courtyard host a chamber music venue.
Daenerys was in the Rector’s Palace when she asked the Spice King of Qarth for ships in our alternate celluloid universe of Game of Thrones.
Jesuit Stairs
Ever since these Baroque steps became the backdrop for Cersei Lannister’s memorable naked “Walk of Shame” in a scene from The Game of Thrones, there are more fandom references to them as “The Walk of Shame Steps” or “The Stairs of Shame ” than historical information available on the Web.
They were built in 1738 to link the Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius, its college, and the town center. Don’t be surprised if you get a flashback to Rome when you see them. Roman architect Pietro Passalacqua modeled them after the Spanish Steps in Rome.
Winter travelers beware. CroatiaWeek reported in October 2024 that the stairs are cordoned off and undergoing renovation from October to January 2025.
Ethnographic Museum (Rupe)
If you watched GOT, the front of the Ethnographic Museum looks vaguely familiar because it was the front of Littlefinger’s brothel in Game of Thrones.
This museum is housed in an old granary, reconstructed with three stories after the 1667 earthquake. The displays focus mainly on 20th-century cultural artifacts. There is a large display of traditional attire from the region. You can take a virtual tour of the displays on the four floors. The Floor Selector icon on the site’s bottom left will take you to the various displays. The costumes are on the fourth floor.
Fort Lovrijenac (St. Lawrence Fortress)
This austere fort sits on a craggy bluff across from the walled Old City of Dubrovnik above Blackwater Bay. As mentioned, it was “The Red Keep” in Game of Thrones. It makes for an iconic Instagram shot, but more importantly, it kept the Venetians at bay (no pun intended). Word got out that Venice planned to build a fort in that spot to subdue the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik). The city decided to beat them to it and built their fortification between 1018 and 1038. Your Dubrovnik Pass will get you in to walk the ramparts. Shakespeare performances are performed here during the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.
Spectacular Viewpoints
Dubrovnik Cable Car to Mount Srď and Museum
It’s easy to get to the top of Mount Srď by cable car from a station at the eastern entrance of the Old City. It’s just a four-minute ride to panoramic views and Napoleon’s Fort Imperial, which dates from 1812. The fort became a critical command headquarters for the Croatian Army in 1991 when it defended Dubrovnik from Serb and Montenegrin attacks. An exhibition with videos and news footage of the Homeland War opened in 2008. The Museum of Croatian War of Independence includes displays about “The Fall of the Ragusan Republic” and the fort’s history.
Bosanka Viewpoint on Mt Srď
What a great way to exercise if it’s not too hot and you are up for a 50+ minute hike to the Dubrovnik Observation Deck Viewpoint. A winding trail called the “Way of the Cross” zig-zags from the Adriatic Highway to the peak of Srď Hill. Another option is to drive up, take a taxi or Uber, or hop on a local bus. The path is rocky, so hiking shoes are a must. The lofty Konoba Dubrava restaurant is a great place to eat once you arrive. See “Tips and Resources” below.
Tips and Resources
- Research Before You Go:
- Dubrovnik Tourist Board: This website lists attractions, museums, events, accommodations, travel tips, public holidays, and useful telephone numbers. (Scroll down the dropdown menu at the top to pick your language.)
- Tripadvisor – Dubrovnik Forum: Community forum where travelers share experiences, ask questions, and provide recommendations.
- Avoid The Crowds. Pick your dates carefully. Dubrovnik’s secret is out; its narrow streets are wall-to-wall with tourists during the busy summer and into the shoulder seasons ending in mid-June and early October.
- Buy a 35 Euro daily Dubrovnik Pass to see the top attractions (there’s also a three-day and weekly pass). It includes access to walk the City Walls, entry to The Rector’s Palace, museums, art galleries as well as archeological exhibits. The website includes information on what days the museums are closed.
- Cash At ATMs. Croatia changed from the kuna to the euro in January 2023, so it’s pricier than when we were here.
- Take Day trips to the nearby countries of Bosnia & Herzegovina (Mostar) and Montenegro (Perast and Kotor).
- Eat Like Locals. Since we had an early flight the next day, we had a nice meal at Restaurant Terra at Hotel Lero, outside the historic center. But where do the locals go to eat? The editor of The Dubrovnik Times wrote a glowing review of Buro Bistro’s buzara, a saucy fish, shrimp, prawns, and mussels dish. I’ll be sure to try that the next time. I’ve talked to diners at Konoba Dubrava on Mount Srđ who say it’s pricey but worth the splurge. The restaurant serves traditional Dalmatian Peka, a mix of vegetables, meat, or octopus that you must order before arrival because it takes three hours to prepare and cook. Dubrovnik Eats rounds up the best in street food, fine dining, seafood, and more. If you’re curious about the black risotto I mentioned in my introduction, you can find the best places to eat it here.
- Read The Local News Before You Go
- Croatia Week: News, events, and cultural updates focused on Dubrovnik.
- Dubrovnik Times: New and views from Dubrovnik and Croatia in English. Including travel reports, opinions, culture, information, lifestyle, and interviews.
That's A Wrap, Folks
If you’ve followed Chris and my Balkan adventures (the first Roadtripping on the Balkan Peninsula post includes our itinerary), then you know I highly recommend the full driving tour experience. However, not everyone has two weeks to drive from Croatia’s capital, Zagreb, across the border into Alpen Slovenia and back into Croatia. Then, wind down the coast through Istria’s wine, olive oil, and truffle farmlands with an inland stop in Plitvice Lakes National Park. On the way to Dubrovnik, we enjoyed day trips to Mostar, the half-Muslim, half-Catholic town in the former Yugoslavian breakaway countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to mountainous Montenegro and “Our Lady of the Lake.”
You must see Dubrovnik and Split if you are on an Adriatic cruise or only have time to drive or fly into a few Croatian cities.”
Disclosure: Travel The Four Corners participates in the Travelpayouts.com Affiliate Program, which helps sites like mine earn advertising fees from top travel brands. Viator and Booking.com are part of the program. I earn a commission if you purchase; it doesn’t cost you extra.
This post is the 19th of my 19-part Balkan series that began with Road Tripping on the Balkan Peninsula in September 2022. There, you will find our itinerary to help you plan your trip.
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History, Earthquakes, and Recent Warfare
Don’t look for traces of Rome’s Imperial Period and powerful emperors in this medieval city. I was surprised to find no ancient Roman ruins in Dubrovnik, as we saw in Split, Pula, and Zadar.
Instead, Dubrovnik was founded in 614 AD by Roman refugees displaced by invading Avars and Slavs from nearby Epidaurum (now Cavtat) during the Middle Ages. These latter-day Roman refugees arrived hundreds of years after the Roman Empire collapsed and the Eastern Byzantine Empire rose.
Fortunately for Dubrovnik, the Byzantine rulers defended the city on several occasions. They ended the Islamic Saracen’s 15-month siege of Dubrovnik in 887 AD and, in 992 AD, helped the city after the Bulgars burned it down.
Despite Serb leader Stefan Nemanja’s attempt to conquer Dubrovnik in 1185 and brief periods under Venetian sovereignty and as part of the Hungarian-Croatian Kingdom, the city held on to its independence and earned a reputation for diplomacy.
From 1358 until 1808, Dubrovnik was a mercantile power known as the Republic of Ragusa. Its wealth helped it to buy peace with the Ottomans, Venetians, and Hungarians and maintain independence.
The town’s golden years were the 16th and early 17th centuries. Fortunes were made in salt (see Ston post) and shipbuilding. But money couldn’t prevent a devastating earthquake that measured 7.4 in 1667. Much of the city was reduced to rubble, and several thousand people died. Many were killed standing under balconies that collapsed.
Our guide, Djana, told us this is why most of the buildings that replaced them are largely balcony-free. After the earthquake, many of Dubrovnik’s churches, monasteries, palaces, and fountains, dating back to the Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque eras, were restored with Baroque finesses.
Napoleon and Ustaše Fascism
Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops occupied Dubrovnik in 1806. A French general became Duke of Ragusa and dissolved the Dubrovnik Republic in 1808, making Dubrovnik part of the Kingdom of Italy and, subsequently, the Illyrian Provinces of France.
Seven years later, after Napoleon’s abdication, Dubrovnik became part of Dalmatia and Croatia at the Vienna Congress in 1815. The region was then ruled by the Habsburgs and then Austro-Hungary until 1918, when it became the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.
During WWII, Croatia entered a dark period as a Nazi satellite. The fascist Ustaše puppet regime had free rein to persecute thousands of Serbs, Jews, and Roma. Several fierce resistance groups formed: the Ćetniks and the Partisan Army. Josip “Tito” Broz led the latter.
After the War ended, Croatia joined with five other Republics to become the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under Marshal Tito.
While the West views Tito as a dictator, many older generations in Croatia fondly remember Tito. Even our driver from Split told us his mother still talked about how much easier life was under Tito.
Though a Communist country, Tito distanced Yugoslavia from Moscow. Tito’s unique brand of socialism allowed open borders and diplomacy with the West. It was only after Tito’s death that Yugoslavia began to break apart along ethnic lines, starting with Kosovo (Serbs and Albanians), then Slovenia and Croatia split from the Serbian-led government
The Siege of Dubrovnik 1990-1991
Seeking to keep Croatia a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and under the pretense of rooting out Ustaše holdouts, Serbian and Montenegrin troops in the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) launched mortar shells and missiles at Dubrovnik in 1990.
There was an international outcry against the JNA’s destruction of the Old City, and UNESCO added Dubrovnik to its list of World Heritage in Danger. Dubrovnik was under siege for eight months.
Today, you can see different colored tiles on the repaired rooftops.
Croatia gained independence on June 25, 1991
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