Churches of Dubrovnik, Croatia

For a small town, Old Town Dubrovnik has a lot of churches and of course we visited a few of them. Too many in fact as I’ve lost track of which photos belong to which church.

The first church we visited was the Church of Saint Blaise, built for the patron saint of Dubrovnik. Located in the main square, it was one of the first we came across. Built in 1715 after the previous church had burnt down, it was built by architect, Marino Gropelli, a man from Venice and given the often complicated relations between Dubrovnik and Venice, it is surprising a Venetian was responsible for the building of their patron saint’s church.

Inside is the mummified body of St. Sylvan, along with other elaborate altars and naves. What was a surprise were the “modern” stained glass windows from Dubrovnik’s famous 20th century artist Ivo Dulčić. I love the contrast between the old and the “new”.

The next church we explored was the Dubrovnik Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin. It dates back to the 6th or 7th century, according to varying accounts. Rebuilt in between the 12th and 14th centuries, it was rebuilt again after it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1667. The interior has a very elegant feel with its white and gold features. Very simple in design but beautifully done.

The church whose interior impressed me the most was the Serbian Church of the Holy Annunciation. Built in 1877 the church has an important collection of icons, some of them dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. The church survived damage from bombing during the Siege of Dubrovnik in 1991 and restorations were done in 2009. The painted ceilings, ornate and colourful altar and elaborate chandelier certainly made this a beautiful church to visit.

I’m sure we popped our heads into even more churches but even for people like us that love an old church or two, we felt a bit “churched” out by the end of the day.Read more