The Stradun (Dubrovnik's Main Street)

In 1667, the city suffered a devastating earthquake that leveled a large portion of the city including homes, government buildings, markets, and churches.  Not wanting to appear weak and vulnerable, Dubrovnik never shared the extent of the damage and number of dead.  Instead, they built over the rubble and worked to quickly build a new public area.  

(Below) The street, known as the Stadun, became the widest street in the city with a line of similar buildings that run the length of the city from the western gate to the port at the eastern gate.

All of the buildings on the Stardun have entrances like those in the photo below.  The street was filled with vendors and during the Middle Ages, customers did not walk into a store as they do today.  Notice that next to the door is a window.  That was where the vendor would sell his goods at a counter that was open to the street.

The bell tower was built in 1441 and survived the earthquake.  It stands at the eastern end of the Stardun and the bell, cast in 1509, strikes each hour based on the time.  According to Ivana, the reason that the bell strikes are repeated three minutes later is that most people can't see the time on the clock from where they are in the city and often do not pay attention to correctly count the time as the bells begin chiming the hour, so the repeat is for them.  She says this is not because they are lazy; it is just that they are not a people that are in a big hurry.

Below is the Baroque Church of St. Blaise that was built in 1706-1715 after the Romanesque church was destroyed in the earthquake.  Dubrovnik appealed to the Pope to assist with the rebuild of the church, but hid the devastation from the other states to keep them from getting any ideas of invasion.

The church sits higher than the rest of the street, but not because there was a natural hill.  To prevent the true scope of the destruction to be seen by outsiders, they piled the rubble and built the church on top of it.

The church overlooks the marketplace and was believed to keep the merchants honest by having St. Blaise watching from above the church.

The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in the 13th century.  It does not face the city, but rather the entrance to the port.  The reason was to proclaim to those coming from the east that this was a Christian city.