Sponza Palace

The Sponza Palace catches the light with a long row of pointed Gothic windows on the upper floor, sitting in sharp contrast to the rounded, heavy arches of the ground level loggia. Built in the early sixteenth century, the palace served as the Republic of Ragusa’s customs house and mint. Merchants stored their goods here, and coins were struck in the workshops behind the courtyard. It remains the only building in the old city to survive the massive earthquake of sixteen sixty-seven intact.