Stradun (Placa)

Stradun, also called Placa, is the limestone-paved main street of the Old Town in Dubrovnik, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of southern Croatia. It runs about 300 metres in a straight line from Pile Gate in the west to Luza Square in the east, and it follows what was once a shallow channel separating two early settlements. After the 1667 earthquake destroyed much of the city, the Republic of Ragusa rebuilt the street with near-identical Baroque stone houses, each with a ground-floor shopfront and living space above, which gives the street its unusually uniform appearance. The paving is polished smooth by centuries of foot traffic and reflects light strongly on sunny days, and after rain it becomes slippery. Visitors typically walk the street end to end in 20 to 30 minutes, though most linger longer. Points of interest along the way include the Large Onofrio Fountain just inside Pile Gate, the Franciscan Monastery entrance, the Church of St Saviour, and side lanes that climb in steep stone steps to the south and north. The street ends at Luza Square, where Sponza Palace, the Orlando Column, the Bell Tower and the Church of St Blaise are gathered. Cafes, bakeries, jewellers and souvenir shops occupy most ground floors, and the side streets hold the better-value restaurants. A good photo angle is from the steps near the Franciscan Monastery looking down the axis of the street, or from the City Walls, which look down on the full length of the roofline. Crowds are heaviest between about 10:00 and 17:00 when cruise-ship groups arrive, and the street is far quieter before 09:00 or after 21:00, when the stone glows under street lighting. The street is open at all hours and free to walk. The Summer Festival and winter events such as the St Blaise feast on 3 February use the street and the squares at its ends for processions.