Placa/ Stradun
Placa or Stradun is a favourite Dubrovnik promenade and meeting point and a site of traditional feasts and processions. It has been the central town street since the 11th century. It connects the western and eastern parts of the city and divides it in two - the northern and southern part. Its present-day look is from the period after the great earthquake of 1667, when the Renaissance palaces were replaced by homogenous facades of residential buildings, made in simple and classical Baroque style based on a design of the Roman engineer Gulio Ceruti.

The big Onofrio fountain
The big Onofrio fountain is situated at a small square in the western part of Stradun just beside the Pile Gates (the western town gates). It was built in 1438 by Onofrio de la Cava, an architect from Naples. It was a part of the water-supply system by which Onofrio de la Cava brought fresh water from a spring, situated 12 km away in Rijeka Dubrovačka.
The fountain is a big sixteen side pool, with its central part being raised and adorned with 16 little columns. Between the columns there are leafy mascerons (stone masks) that throw fresh water in the pool. The sculptural work on the fountain is a work of Pietro di Martino from Milan. In the great earthquake of 1667, the fountain was heavily damaged and its upper part was replaced by a brick-dome.

The little Onofrio fountain
The little Onofrio fountain is situated at the main square in the eastern part of Stradun together with the church of Saint Blaise, the Orlando Column, the big Council town hall, the City Tower Bell, the former Arsenal building and the Sponza palace. It was designed by Onofrio de la Cava, the constructor of the Big Onofrio fountain, in order to supply water to the market place on Luža square. The sculptural work was however done by Pietro di Milano from 1440-1444. The most valuable part of the fountain are the reliefs of naked boys (putti) that hold different recipients and water skins.

The column of Orlando
The column of Orlando was erected on Luža Square in 1419. It is a column with a statue of the legendary French knight Roland (Orlando) made in the Gothic style by Bonino from Milan with the help of local masters. The white flag of the Republic of Dubrovnik with a figure of Saint Blaise flied from its mast until its fall in 1808. It is interesting that the length of Orlando`s elbow was taken as a measure for the length, the so called Dubrovnik`s cubit- 51,2cm. Since the foundation of the Dubrovnik summer festival in 1950, every summer from July 10 to August 25, the flag of the festival with the inscription LIBERTAS (freedom in Latin) is proudly flying from its mast.

The town bell-tower
The town bell-tower is 31m high and was built by local masters in 1444. Together with the Minčeta fortress and the Orlando column, it is a symbol of the free Republic of Dubrovnik. The famous iron-founder Ivan Rabljanin cast the bell in 1509. The two famous „zelenci“(men made of bronze that represent Roman soldiers) called Maro and Baro ring out the hours from the top of the town bell.

The loggia/ the building of bell-ringers
The Loggia or the building of bell-ringers is situated between the Sponza palace and the Town public clock. It was built in 1463 and was completely restored in 1952. The sound of its bells announced the convocation of the Council, but it was also used to warn of other dangers. The Loggia is built above the custom-house gates, the eastern inner gates to the town built in the Gothic style.

The Sponza Palace
The Palace of Sponza is situated on Loggia square. It was built from 1516-1524. It is one of the most beautiful palaces in Dubrovnik, and one of few that were not destroyed in the great earthquake of 1667. The architect of the palace was Paskoje Miličević, while the sculptural work was done by the Andrijići brothers, stone-masons from Korčula. Sponza, like other wealthy palaces from that period, was built in the Gothic-Renaissance style, which is typical for Dalmatia. At the time of the Republic of Dubrovnik, the palace of Sponza was used for different purposes: as a custom house, a warehouse, the mint, the evaluation office, an arsenal and even as a granary. In the atrium, just above the place where once a weighing balance used to hang, there is an inscription that says: FALLERE NOSTRA VETANT; ET FALLI PONDERA; MEQVE PONDERO CVM MERCES: PONDERA IPSE DEVS- „Our scales don`t allow cheating or being cheated. When I weigh goods, I am being weighed by the God himself“. The Academy of the Concordant, a group made of eminent poets and writers, which was founded in the second half of the 16th-century, used to have their meetings in the big hall room of the first floor. Today the palace houses the Historical Archives, which is one of the most significant in Europe by the diversity and number of the documents it possesses (7000 volumes and 100.000 books). Almost all the documents referring to the period from the 13th-century to the fall of Republic are kept in the Archives. The oldest document dates from 1022, and the most interesting one is the Statute of Dubrovnik. A memorial room in honour of the Croatian soldiers who died in the Home War of 1991-1992 is situated on the ground floor.

The Rector`s Palace
The Rector`s palace is the most outstanding public building in Dubrovnik built in the Gothic-Renaissance style. For the most part, its present-day look dates from the first half of the 15th-century, when a new Rector`s residence was built on the site of the former one that was badly damaged in a powder explosion. At the time of the Republic, the atrium of the palace served as a little square, opened to the public, where the government offices, the notary office, the courtroom and prisons were situated. On the mezzanine, an arsenal and a powder warehouse were situated. The Rector`s private chambers, where he lived during his one-month mandate, as well as his office and reception rooms are situated on the first floor. The entrance to the Town hall is situated on the first floor as well. Above the entrance the famous inscription is engraved: OBLITI PRIVATORUM, PUBLICA CURATE (forget about your private concerns, think about the public good). From 1950 the Rector`s palace houses the Dubrovnik Cultural and historical museum, which exhibits antique furniture, numerous portraits, coats of arms, paintings of old masters, vases, oil-lamps, musical instruments, a coin collection, the inventory of Domus Christi (the state pharmacy founded in 1420), clocks, examples of old measures etc. On the ground floor you can visit prison cells as well as the site of the old reconstructed courtroom, with portraits of distinguished citizens of Dubrovnik (writers, poets, scientists, physicists, politicians). The atrium of the palace is an ideal setting for different musical and theatre happenings because of its excellent acoustics. There, our attention is attracted by the bronze bust of Miho Pracat, a seafarer, merchant and ship owner from the island of Lopud, the commoner who left all of his enormous fortune to the Republic of Dubrovnik.

The Rupe Granary
The granary of Rupe is situated in the oldest part of the old town, in Saint Mary`s district. This grandiose building was built in the Renaissance style from 1542 until 1590, and it has been preserved in its original form. The granary is called Rupe (holes) because it contains 15 large holes, dug up in live rock, which served as grain containers. The Rupe granary houses the Dubrovnik Ethnographic museum, which shows the traditional economy of Dubrovnik`s countryside with its three basic branches, on the first floor, and traditional costumes of Dubrovnik`s countryside on the second floor.