Dubrovnik, Croatia

Franciscan Monastery & Old Pharmacy

The Franciscan Monastery (Male braće) stands at the top of the Stradun, right by Pile Gate. The friars moved inside the city walls in the 14th century, and the monastery has been here ever since.

The arcaded Romanesque cloister of the Franciscan Monastery in Dubrovnik, with paired columns and arches opening onto a garden
Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About Franciscan Monastery & Old Pharmacy

Its best-known treasure is the pharmacy, founded in 1317 and considered one of the oldest still-working pharmacies in Europe. Part of the old pharmacy, with its jars, mortars and handwritten prescription books, is displayed in the monastery museum, while a modern pharmacy still operates at the entrance.

The cloister is a quiet 14th-century courtyard surrounded by slender double columns, each topped with a differently carved capital showing faces, animals and plants. Its garden of palms and orange trees offers a rest from the crowds on the Stradun.

The monastery church facing the street has a carved Pietà above its portal. The entrance is just inside Pile Gate, next to the start of the city walls walk.

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