Franciscan Monastery & Old Pharmacy

Tucked inside this 14th-century monastery complex is a pharmacy that has been dispensing medicine without interruption since 1317. That makes it the third-oldest pharmacy in Europe and, by some measures, the oldest still functioning one on the continent. For over seven hundred years, through earthquakes, plagues, sieges, and the collapse of the Republic itself, someone has been standing behind the counter here selling remedies.

The pharmacy was originally established to serve the Franciscan friars, using herbs grown in the monastery's own garden. By the 15th century it had opened to the public, and its preparations — made from recipes developed over centuries — became famous across the Republic. Some of those original recipes are still used today. You can buy rose cream and lavender preparations made according to formulas that predate the printing press.

The monastery's Romanesque cloister, built in 1360 by master craftsman Mihoje Brajkov of Bar, is one of the most photographed spots in Dubrovnik. Slender double columns with uniquely carved capitals surround a garden with a 15th-century fountain. Each capital is different — human heads, animals, mythical creatures — and scholars have debated their meaning for centuries. The original Romanesque church was destroyed in the 1667 earthquake; what you see now is a Baroque replacement, though the south portal from the original church survived and remains one of the finest pieces of Romanesque sculpture in Croatia.

The Old Pharmacy Museum, accessible through the cloister, displays pharmaceutical equipment from centuries past: mortars, grinders, scales, ceramic jars, and handwritten recipe books. The monastery library holds over 30,000 volumes, including priceless medieval manuscripts and incunabula. All of this survived the 1667 earthquake because the cloister, pharmacy, and library were among the very few structures that didn't collapse.