The Franciscan monastery
The building of the Franciscan monastery started in the 14th century, but its construction continued during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was badly damaged in the great earthquake of 1667, when the monastery church of Saint Francis, built in the Gothic-renaissance style, was completely destroyed. After the earthquake the church was restored in the Baroque style. The late Gothic portal dating from 1499, a work of two brothers from Dubrovnik Leonardo and Petar Petrović, was the only thing that remained of the destroyed church. The cloister of the Franciscan monastery is maybe its most beautiful part. It was built in the Gothic-renaissance style at the beginning of the 14th century by Mihoje Brajkov, an artist from Bar. A monastery museum is situated in the eastern part of the monastery, in the former chapter house. In the museum different valuable artefacts are kept like: vases, instruments, books on medicinal herbs and prescriptions written by hand, belonging to one of the oldest European pharmacies (founded in the Franciscan monastery in 1317). The monastery houses one of the richest monastery libraries, whose holdings count over 60.000 volumes and 209 incunabula, as well as 20 illuminated codices and a collection with over 2000 manuscripts. The monastery owns a significant music archives with around 10.000 music works.

The Cathedral
The Cathedral of the Assumption of our Lady was built in the Gothic style according to a plan of the Italian architect Andrea Buffalini from Urbino. The construction works were finished in 1713, led by the local architect Ilija katičić. The present-day cathedral was built on the site of the former sumptuous Romanesque cathedral, which was built in 12th century and was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667. And then, during archeological research conducted in 1981, after another earthquake, which happened in 1979, rests of an unknown building were found in its foundations. Further research showed that it was a Byzantine basilica dating from the late Antiquity period. Inside the cathedral there are several Baroque altars of great value like: the altar of Ivan Nepomuk (John the Dumb), made of purple marble, as well as the altar of Saint Bernard with beautiful mosaics and an altar slab in oil, a work of the baroque painter from Dubrovnik Petar Matejević. A big poliptych “The Assumption” on the main altar is a work of the famous painter Tiziano and his workshop. The TREASURY of the cathedral, one of the richest ones before the great earthquake, keeps a considerable number of reliquaries and sacral treasure today. They are mostly works of goldsmiths from Dubrovnik dating from the 14th till the 18th century. Among the most significant ones are: the reliquary of saint Blaise`s head in the form of a Byzantine crown adorned with lockets and precious stones, dating from the 12th century, and the reliquary of Saint Blaise`s arm from the 13th century. A considerable number of valuable paintings is also kept in the treasury of the cathedral. Some of them are: “Our Lady with the Child”, a Byzantine-Romanesque icon from the 13th century, “The Epiphany”, a triptych of an unknown master from Antwerpen dating from the 16th century, which served as a portable altar to the ambassadors from Dubrovnik on their way to Constantinople. The paintings on the wall of the treasury are works of Petar Matejević. Once, the access to the treasury was possible only if three keys were put in the lock together. That couldn`t be done by one person, so three people in fact possessed each one key: the archbishop of Dubrovnik, the Rector of the cathedral and the Rector of Dubrovnik. That testifies to the great value of the treasure that was kept in the treasury.

The Jesuite church and Collegium Ragusinum
Collegium Ragusinum is the well-known Dubrovnik Jesuite College, situated at Poljana Ruđera Boškovića (Ruđer Bošković square). A beautiful Baroque staircase leads to the square. It was a work of the Roman architect Pietro Passalacqua. Andrea Pozzo, an eminent Jesuite architect and painter made the plans for the construction of the Jesuite church, which is situated at the same square as the college. The church was finished in 1725. Inside the church, on the walls of the presbytery are the famous frescoes that show the life of Saint Ignatius, which were painted by the Sicilian painter of Spanish origin Gaetano Garzia from 1735-1738.

The Dominican monastery
The Dominican monastery is situated in the north-eastern part of the old town. It was started to be built at the beginning of the 14th-century. At that time it had an important defence function, and that`s why even though at first it was built outside the city walls, it soon got incorporated within the city walls. It got its final look in the 15th and the 16th centuries, and it was badly damaged during the great earthquake of 1667. Maybe the most beautiful part of the monastery is its cloister with 20 tristyles built in the Gothic-Renaissance style. The cloister was built by local masters from 1456 till 1483 according to the plans of the Florentine master Masso di Bartolomeo. The monastery church of Saint Dominic is a one-nave church with simple architectural decorations. Its southern facade displays a beautiful portal with a statue of Saint Dominic in the lunette and that of Jesus the Saviour above the Gothic pointed arch. It is a work of Bonino di Jacopo from Milan dating from 1420. Inside the church there are a couple of works of architectural interest: a crucifix, a work by the Venetian artist Paolo di Veneziano from the 14th-century, an altar slab- a Miracle of Saint Dominic, a work of Vlaho Bukovac from 1912, a pulpit with figures of the saints of the Dominican order and two Gothic sarcophagi from the 14th-century. The rich collection of the Dominican museum possesses some works of special value such us: the paintings of the Dubrovnik Renaissance painting school, which includes some of the paintings of Nikola Božidarević, Mihajlo Hamzić and Lovro Dobričević, as well as: Santi di Tito, „Descent of the Holy Spirit“(1575), Tizian, „Saint Blaise, Mary Magdalene, Archangel Michael and little Tobias“ (around 1550), Donato Bizamano, „The Virgin with a child“ and The Virgin with Saint Blaise and Saint Francis“(around1658), which is interesting because it shows Dubrovnik before the great earthquake. The museum shelters as well a rich collection of goldsmith`s objects that served for religious services or that were offered as votive presents by believers. These objects are different chalices, incense-boats, monstrances, necklaces, rings, earings etc. The Reliquaries hold a special place among objects made by goldsmiths and the most precious ones are: a reliquary holding a relic of the head of Saint Stephen, the first Hungarian king (12th-century), of a finger of Saint Dominic (15th-century) and other. In the museum, some examples of the books from the monastery library are exhibited too. The library has 239 incunabuli, around 200 manuscripts and other volumes.