Franciscan Monastery and Old Pharmacy

Just inside the Pile Gate, at the western end of Stradun, the Franciscan Monastery of the Friars Minor is one of the oldest and most rewarding sights in Dubrovnik. The friars first built outside the walls in the 13th century and moved inside near the Pile Gate in 1317, although the building work took a very long time to complete. The 1667 earthquake destroyed the church, and only its carved portal of 1498 survived from the earlier building; the interior was rebuilt in Baroque style.

The highlight is the lower cloister, a Romanesque-Gothic arcade of 120 columns and 12 massive pilasters around a central garden. Each capital is carved with a different motif, from plants and geometric patterns to human figures and animals, so it is worth walking the whole square slowly. The friary also has a later Renaissance upper cloister with semicircular vaults.

The monastery is famous for its pharmacy, founded in 1317 and still dispensing today, which makes it one of the oldest working pharmacies in Europe. The museum displays the old pharmacy's jars, mortars and early equipment alongside church treasures such as a 15th-century silver-gilt cross and thurible, an 18th-century crucifix from Jerusalem, paintings including an Ecce Homo by Francesco Francia, and a head reliquary of St Ursula. The 17th-century library holds more than 20,000 books, around 1,200 old manuscripts and 137 incunabula, as well as the inventory of the original pharmacy.

Allow 45 minutes to an hour. The cloister is a calm retreat from the crowds on Stradun, so it is a good place to visit in the middle of the day. Dress respectfully, with shoulders and knees covered, as this is a working religious house. The cloister walk itself is on one level.

The entrance is on Stradun by the Franciscan bell tower, next to the large Onofrio's Fountain. The Pile Gate bus stop and the main entrance to the city walls are a minute's walk away, so the monastery pairs naturally with a morning walk on the walls. The official tourist board notes that the friars' presence in the city is recorded in a document from 1235, and the museum rooms also show period pharmacy furnishings, vessels and manuscripts, giving a rare look at how medicine was prepared and sold in the Republic. It is a worthwhile stop for anyone interested in the history of medicine.