An earlier Romanesque cathedral on this site was destroyed in the earthquake of 1667. A legend links its founding to Richard the Lionheart, said to have survived a shipwreck nearby on his way back from the Crusades. The present Baroque church was designed by the Italian architect Andrea Buffalini and completed in 1713.
Inside, the bright white interior is relatively plain, with a polyptych of the Assumption attributed to Titian and his workshop above the main altar. The treasury holds a large collection of reliquaries, including those of St Blaise, the city's patron saint.
The cathedral is a two-minute walk from Luža Square at the eastern end of the Stradun, so it fits easily into a walk that also takes in the Rector's Palace and the old port.
