DOMINICAN MONASTERY

Dominican Cloisters DubrovnikIn Dubrovnik, visit the Dominican Monastery and walk through the impressive Gothic cloister that dates from 1456-83.

The monastery was established in 1225 but the building the church, one of the largest Gothic buildings on the Adriatic Coast, and the cloisters were completed many years later. The vestry, the chapter house and the cloiser ws added between 1456 and 1483.

The cloisters, in Gothic-Renaissance style, were designed by Maso di Bartolomeo, an architect from Florence, and crafted by Croatian masons.

The arches of the cloister are closed by beautiful Gothic and Renaissance triforas. In the middle of the courtyard is a richly decorated cistern crown. The graceful triple arches of the cloister surround a peaceful Mediterranean garden.

In the center of the cloister garden is a 14th-century well, which still works. That turned our to be handy as during the war in 1991 water was drawn from the well each day.

The garden has orange trees in addition to the well.