The most beautiful religious buildings Dubrovnik & Area

Near the door Ploče, the monastery church was built between 1301 and 1315 in Gothic style with a pentagonal apse. The building, which suffered enormous damage during the earthquake (1667), was rebuilt. Romanesque parts have been preserved, such as the main nave and two chapels on the sides, but it is the mixture of Gothic and southern Renaissance styles that dominates. Thus, the magnificent 15th century cloister, inspired by the Florentine master Maso di Bartolomeo. The capitals are decorated with plant motifs, notably the orange tree, the city's emblematic tree. The cloister, from where you can see the 10 m high bell tower, is decorated with a garden of citrus fruits, palm trees and a well. The library (closed to the public), which was founded in the 12th century, shone throughout Europe from the 15th to the 17th centuries. In 1859, it was transferred to a room on the first floor of the convent's south wing. Many works are preserved there, for example, the booklet of Saint Thomas Aquinas, written and decorated in the 14th century, about a hundred manuscripts and 240 incunabula from all over Europe.

In the east wing of the monastery, a museum of sacred art exhibits a beautiful collection of ancient works, paintings, sculptures, silverware and many manuscripts. Included are the polyptych of Lovro's Baptism of Christ Dobričević and Nikola's triptych Božidarević depicting Saint Blaise with a model of the city before the 1667 earthquake.

This religious complex, of which certain elements are in ruins, is composed of a medieval basilica (12th-12th centuries), the monastery and its cloister (15th-16th centuries). The Benedictine monks, who had been living on the island since the 11th century, left it for good in 1787. The Romanesque-Gothic style convent was partially destroyed in the earthquake of 1667. Today, only the east and north wings and the cloister remain. Inside, a large permanent exhibition on Game of Thrones will allow fans of the American series (but also the curious) to learn more about the behind-the-scenes filming in Croatia, with testimonies and interviews with actors in free listening.

In the courtyard of the convent, Maximilian of Habsburg had his residence built in 1860, complete with gardens and a park. The monarch had already started a small botanical collection, but it was in 1959 that the garden was institutionalized to study the adaptation of tropical and subtropical plants to the Mediterranean climate. The years of war 1991-1992 inflicted much damage to the garden. Since 1993, the garden has been rebuilt and planted again. More than 800 species are now listed, including many cactus, eucalyptus, palm trees. Some trees are more than three centuries old! You can enjoy a beautiful walk to the large reservoir that passes through the olive grove of the Benedictines. The city of Monaco has financed part of the work!