Franciscan Monastery and Old Pharmacy

The Franciscan Monastery and Old Pharmacy occupies a site at Placa 2 on Stradun, immediately inside Pile Gate in the Old Town of Dubrovnik, Croatia. The Franciscans settled here in the 14th century, and the complex centres on a Romanesque-Gothic cloister with paired columns whose capitals are carved with human faces and fantastic figures, one of the most photographed courtyards in the city. A palm, orange trees and a small garden fill the cloister, giving a calm break from the busy street outside. The monastery houses one of the oldest continuously operating pharmacies in Europe, founded in 1317. Its museum displays medieval jars, mortars, scales, recipe books and surgical instruments, along with a collection of manuscripts, paintings and liturgical items. The pharmacy still sells cosmetic creams and remedies based on traditional recipes, including a rose-water cream. The monastery church, next to the Church of St Saviour, was heavily damaged in the 1667 earthquake and rebuilt; its facade carries a Pieta over the main portal from the early 16th century. Visitors can enter the church for free, while the cloister and museum cost about EUR 10. A visit generally takes 45 minutes. The best approach is to arrive at opening, before tour groups pass through Pile Gate, when the cloister is quiet and light falls well on the columns. Opening hours run roughly 09:00 to 18:00 in summer and 09:00 to 14:00 in winter. Photography is generally permitted in the cloister but may be restricted in the museum and church. It combines naturally with the City Walls, entered at Pile Gate nearby, and with Big Onofrio Fountain just outside the monastery. The pharmacy shop is open to browse without a museum ticket. Cover shoulders when entering the church.