Page 152 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

150  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

by draining and filling in the
marshy channel that separated
the island of Ragusa from the
mainland. The street was paved
in 1468 and a series of stone
houses was built after the
earthquake of 1667. Today the
street is lined with busy bars
and cafés, and is a popular place
for locals and visitors to gather
in the evening.

P Square of the Loggia
Luža
This square, the political and
economic heart of Dubrovnik,
is situated at the eastern end
of Stradun and surrounded
by important buildings. Today
it is still a popular meeting
place, in particular around
Orlando’s Column, which
was built by the sculptor
Antonio Ragusino (1418).
On the eastern side of the
square is a Clock Tower
(Gradski zvonik). Repair work
The lovely late Romanesque cloister, Franciscan monastery carried out in 1929 restored
a 15th-century look to the
Clock Tower. The nearby
R Franciscan Monastery which has religious works of art Loggia of the Bell, with four
Franjevački samostan and objects belonging to the bells, dates from 1463. The
Placa 2. Tel (020) 321 410. order. Instruments from the bells were rung to call the
Open summer: 9am–6pm daily; pharmaceutical laboratory are citizens to gather whenever
winter: 9am–2pm daily. Franciscan kept here. danger threatened.
Museum: Open Apr–Oct: 9am–6pm Next to this stands the Main
daily; Nov–Mar: 9am–2pm daily. & P Stradun (Placa) Guard House, rebuilt in 1706
Construction of the monastery The wide street that crosses the after the earthquake of 1667.
began in 1317 and was city from east to west between It has a large Baroque doorway,
completed in the following two city gates is known as similar to a city gate, and is
century. It was almost entirely Stradun or Placa. It was enlivened on the first floor by
rebuilt after the earthquake in constructed in the 12th century the Gothic mullioned windows,
1667, but the south door (1499), reminiscent of the earlier
in Venetian Gothic decorated building which was built in
with a Pietà in the lunette, and the late 15th century.
a 15th-century marble pulpit The Small Fountain of Onofrio
escaped damage. The cloister, (Mala Onofrijeva česma), dating
which was completely undam- from 1438, stands alongside
aged by the earthquake, reveals the Guard House.
elements of the Romanesque
and the Gothic style and has a P Sponza Palace
fountain from the 15th century Palača Sponza
in the centre. Tel (020) 321 032. Open May–Oct:
One side of the cloister 9am–10pm daily; Nov–Apr:
leads to the pharmacy (Stara 10am–3pm daily.
ljekarna), in use since 1317, To the left of the square is
where alembics, mortars, Sponza Palace. Remodelled in
measuring apparatus and 1516–22, it has an elegantly
beautifully decorated jars are sculpted Renaissance loggia
displayed on the old shelves. on the ground floor and a
The capitular room of beautiful Venetian Gothic
the monastery houses the three-mullioned window on
Franciscan Museum (Muzej the first floor, evidence of its
Franjevačkog samostana), Stradun, the main street of Dubrovnik 14th-century origins, and a
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp228–30 and pp240–45

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