Sponza Palace

Sponza Palace faces Luza Square in the heart of old Dubrovnik, Croatia, and was built between 1516 and 1522 as the customs house of the Republic of Ragusa. The Dalmatian master Paskoje Miličević designed it, and stonemasons from the Andrijić family contributed to the carved ornament. Its ground floor was the Divona, or customs office, where goods arriving by sea and by caravan were weighed, taxed and sealed, while the upper floors held the mint, the treasury and a bank, and later the Academy of the Ragusan literati. The facade combines a Renaissance arcaded loggia with Venetian Gothic windows on the upper level, and a carved relief of St Blaise, the patron saint of the Republic, sits above the main door. An inscription in the atrium is often translated as a statement of fair dealing: weights and measures were to be honest, as God watches over the merchant. The palace is one of the few major buildings in the city to have survived the earthquake of 1667 largely intact, so its stonework offers a rare view of Dubrovnik before the disaster. Today the building houses the State Archives of Dubrovnik, whose holdings reach back to the 12th century and include diplomatic correspondence, trade registers, wills and the Republic's laws. The building also contains a memorial room to the defenders of Dubrovnik killed in the Homeland War of 1991-1995. The atrium is open during the day without charge and serves as a venue for Dubrovnik Summer Festival events and exhibitions. Conservation work has maintained the facade, and the courtyard, with its elegant arcade and stairway, retains its original proportions. The Memorial Room and archive exhibitions use a documentary rather than a curated-collection approach, so the principal experience is architectural and atmospheric. The palace stands opposite the Church of St Blaise and close to Orlando's Column, which makes it an easy stop on a walk along the Stradun.