Franciscan Monastery in Dubrovnik

Brief information

The Franciscan Monastery in Dubrovnik is important not only because of its age: it is better read as a place where disasters left very specific boundaries between the old and the new. The complex inside the city walls was founded in 1317, but individual buildings were constructed over centuries. As a result, a medieval cloister that survived the 1667 earthquake stands here alongside a church that, after the same earthquake, had to be almost completely rebuilt in the Baroque style.

Another turn is connected with the pharmacy. The friars founded it almost immediately after the monastery appeared: at first it served sick monks, and later it became a source of income. Since 1938, the pharmacy has also operated as a museum. Because of this, the monastery is perceived not only as a religious complex, but as a place where everyday monastic practice has become part of the museum display.

What to notice right away

The main clue to how the place is structured is the comparison between what survived and what was created anew. For the church, this trace is the Gothic portal of 1498, facing Stradun: after the earthquake, it remained the only surviving element of the old church. In its lunette is the Pietà, surrounded by figures of Saint Jerome and John the Baptist, with God the Father above. The portal shows which layer of the building is older than the Baroque reconstruction.

In the lower cloister, it is worth noticing not the overall perimeter, but the rhythm of the colonnade. It is made up of paired octagonal columns, and the capital of each one differs from its neighbor: human heads, animals, and floral motifs appear there. This decoration turns a walk around the cloister into an examination of individual details, not merely of a beautiful gallery. The fountain with the statue of Saint Francis in the center gathers this space around the monastic theme, but the most eloquent traces of time are found precisely in the portal and the carved capitals.