Dubrovnik Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

The walk stop by stop: Pile Gate, the Stradun, the cathedral, Fort Bokar

10 stops · about 20 min walking · start: Pile Gate · finish: Fort Bokar

The walk opens at Pile Gate, where the drawbridge was raised every night, and runs down the Stradun past Onofrio's Large Fountain to the Clock Tower, the Church of St Blaise and the Rector's Palace. Porporela, the breakwater below the walls, comes next, then the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Church of St Ignatius at the top of its stairs and the Marin Držić House. Fort Bokar, on the south-western corner of the walls, closes the walk. The app accepts another opening stop or order, and no stop asks for an entry ticket.

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1. 

   1Pile GateStart

   Pile Gate is the main western entrance to Dubrovnik's old town. Above the outer gate of 1537 a statue of St Blaise, the city's patron saint, stands in a niche, and the inner Gothic gate dates from 1460. In the days of the Republic of Ragusa the drawbridge over the moat was raised every night.

2. 

   2Onofrio's Large Fountain

   This large domed fountain was built in 1438 by the Neapolitan architect Onofrio della Cava as the end of an aqueduct that brought fresh water into the city from a spring about 12 kilometres away. Water still pours from carved stone masks around its sixteen sides, although much of its decoration was lost in the earthquake of 1667.

3. 

   3Clock Tower

   The Clock Tower at the eastern end of the Stradun, on Luža Square, was first built in 1444. Because it had begun to lean, it was rebuilt to its old design in 1929. At the top two bronze figures, known locally as Maro and Baro, strike the hours on the bell.

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4. 

   4Church of St Blaise

   The baroque Church of St Blaise was built between 1706 and 1715 by the Venetian architect Marino Gropelli, after a fire destroyed the earlier church on this spot. Inside, a gilded silver statue of the patron saint holds a model of Dubrovnik as it looked before the 1667 earthquake, and it is said to have survived the fire unharmed.

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5. 

   5Rector's Palace

   This Gothic and Renaissance palace was the seat of the Rector, head of the Republic of Ragusa, who was elected for just one month and could not leave the building during his term without permission. It was rebuilt in the 15th century after gunpowder explosions and now houses the Cultural History Museum. Look at the carved capitals of its arcade.

6. 

   6Porporela

   Porporela is the stone breakwater that shelters the old harbour, below St John's Fortress at the eastern edge of the walls. It is a favourite place for a stroll and a swim, with views back to the city walls and across the water to the island of Lokrum.

7. 

   7Cathedral of the Assumption

   Dubrovnik Cathedral was built in baroque style from the 1670s to 1713, after the earthquake of 1667 destroyed the Romanesque cathedral. According to legend, that earlier church was funded by Richard the Lionheart, in thanks for surviving a shipwreck near Lokrum in 1192. Its treasury keeps relics of St Blaise, and a Titian painting of the Assumption hangs above the main altar.

8. 

   8Church of St Ignatius

   The Jesuit Church of St Ignatius was built between 1699 and 1725, inspired by the baroque churches of Rome. You reach it by the Jesuit Stairs of 1738, often compared with the Spanish Steps in Rome, and fans of Game of Thrones may recognise them from the series.

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9. 

   9Marin Držić House

   This small museum is dedicated to Marin Držić, the leading Croatian playwright of the Renaissance, who was born in Dubrovnik in the early 16th century. His comedy Dundo Maroje is still one of the best-known plays in the Croatian language, and the museum tells his story and that of the theatre of his time.

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10. 

    10Fort BokarFinish

    Fort Bokar guards the south-western corner of the city walls and the approach to Pile Gate from the sea. It was designed in the 15th century by the Florentine architect Michelozzo and is considered one of the oldest preserved casemate fortresses in Europe. Across the small bay, Fort Lovrijenac rises on its rock.