Church of St Blaise

The Church of St Blaise (Crkva svetog Vlaha) stands on Luza Square, at the heart of Dubrovnik's Old City in Croatia, facing the Sponza Palace and the Orlando column. The present Baroque church was built between 1706 and 1715 and designed by the Venetian architect Marino Gropelli, replacing an earlier Romanesque church that survived the 1667 earthquake but was destroyed by fire in 1706. Its stepped facade is crowned by a statue of St Blaise, who holds a model of the city as it was before the earthquake, and a curved double staircase leads to the entrance. According to tradition, St Blaise appeared in a dream to a priest in 971 and warned the city of a Venetian plot, after which he became the patron saint and protector of the Republic. His feast on 3 February is marked by a procession with relics, and the ritual has been recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. Inside, the single nave contains a main altar with a silver gilt statue of the saint dating from the 15th century, which survived the fire of 1706 and is shown with the old city in his hand. The marble altar is in Baroque style and the interior is relatively compact and light. The church is an active parish place of worship, with open hours outside services. The building has been maintained and restored over the years, including repairs after wartime damage in the 1990s, and its present condition is good. Visitors usually combine a stop here with the nearby Rector's Palace, the cathedral and Luza Square.