Year of inscription on the UNESCO list: 1979
The old city of Dubrovnik is packed whith gothic, renaissance and baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains, built during the centuries of existence of this magnificent citiy. Because this complex presents a memorial to the human creating genius, the Old town of Dubrovnik was in 1979 enrolled as one of the first sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Probably the most characteristic symbol of the Old town of Dubrovnik are its city walls, preserved intact to our days. The Dubrovnik walls are a 6360 feet long uninterrupted complex of ramparts, towers and bastions created and ever improved in order to protect the city from its enemies.
The history of the Walls begins in the early middel ages, with many extensions and improvements through the centuries. The final stage of construction, in the 1500s, produced the walls the way we see them today: a complex of five great citadels together with twenty smaller towers and bastions.
Probably the most magnificent of the five great ones is the northern citadel of Minčeta - a round bastion completed in 1464. Equally breathtaking are the detached citadel of Lovrijenac, built upon a 120 feet high cliff above the sea, as well as the largest citadel of St. John, built in order to protect the city harbour from the sea.
Setting aside the magnificence and the beauty of the city walls, only by entering the old city is one able to comprehend the history and culture of Dubrovnik. Entering the City through the western gates of Pile, at the beggining of Stradun, the main city street connecting the western and the eastern city gates, the visitors of the City find themselves in front of the Gread fountain of Onofrio. Nearby is the church of St. Spas form the XVIth century and a female monastery of St. Claire where the first orphanage in the world was founded.
At the western end of Stradun, under the protection of the citadel Minčeta, a Franciscan monastery is located, renown for its romanical cluster, a rich library and the oldest pharmacy in Europe, working uninterrupted from the year 1317. On the opposite side of the town, protected by the citadel of Revelin, the Benedictine monastery is located with one of the richest treasuries of cultural, art and historical heritage of Dubrovnik.
The western end of Stradun has always been a center of social, cultural and religious life of Dubrovnik. The palace of Sponza is located here containing the archives of Dubrovnik Republic, the famous bell tower, the palace of the Great Council and the Rector's palace, a beautiful gothic-rennaisance palac that had been the home of the city's master during its one month long reign.
Also, two of the most important churches are located in this area - the Cathedral of Mary's Ascension, held to be bullt by Richard the Lionheart, and the church of St. Blaise, the city's patrion and most beloved saint.
