Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza)
Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza) features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Dubrovnik. Give it roughly ~45 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type palace
- Suggested visit ~45 min
- Dubrovnik Dubrovnik guide
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About Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza)
The palace that shrugged off the 1667 earthquake, still wearing Dubrovnik's true pre-quake face, once customs house and mint, now the guardian of a thousand years of records.
Sponza Palace stands at the northeast corner of Luza square, closing the eastern end of the Stradun. It was built between 1516 and 1522 to a design by Paskoje Milicevic, with stonework by the Andrijic brothers, and blends two styles: a Renaissance ground-floor loggia, Venetian-Gothic windows on the first floor, and Renaissance windows above. As one of the very few major buildings to survive the 1667 earthquake essentially intact, it preserves the pre-quake appearance of the Old Town.
Over its history the palace served as the Republic's customs house and bonded warehouse, and also housed the mint, treasury, an armoury, a bank and a literary academy. Today it holds the State Archives of Dubrovnik, one of the most important in the region, with documents spanning roughly a thousand years of the Ragusan Republic. It also contains the Memorial Room of the Defenders of Dubrovnik from the 1991-1995 Homeland War.
Did you know? When the 1667 earthquake and fire destroyed most of Dubrovnik, Sponza Palace survived almost untouched, which is why it still shows the city's genuine pre-earthquake appearance.
How long is a visit to Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza)?
Set aside roughly ~45 min for Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza). That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza) worth your time?
Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza) is among the 18 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Dubrovnik, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Dubrovnik
- Luza Square & Orlando's Column (Orlandov stup)
- Church of St Blaise (Crkva svetog Vlaha)
- Stradun (Placa)
- Rector's Palace (Knežev dvor)
- Franciscan Monastery (Franjevacki samostan)
- Dubrovnik Cathedral (Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary)
- Large Onofrio's Fountain (Velika Onofrijeva fontana)
- Gundulić Square (Gundulićeva poljana)
Day 1 of the Dubrovnik in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Sponza Palace (Palaca Sponza)
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