A Baroque Urban Undertaking in the Very Centre of Dubrovnik

Temeljne vrijednosti starog dalmatinskog graditeljstva u toku stoljeća potječu iz urbanističkog sklada primorskih gradova. Srednjovjekovne općine određivahu gradnju svojim zakonicima već od 13. stoljeća, nastojeći uskladiti sve životne potrebe i prohtjeve sa zaštitom stanovnika. Privredne, društvene i političke prilike srednjeg vijeka ne omogućavahu u Dalmaciji oblikovanje i gradnju većih gradova, pa su njihove skučene površine zadane i reljefom zemljišta ostale stoljećima omeđene starim zidinama. U tako oblikovanim i ocrtanim jezgrama nastavljaše se razmjerno skučena gradnja obnove 17. i 18. stoljeća kad je barokni slog počeo bujati svojom izražajnošću i odgovarajućim traženjem širih prostora. Njegov se ograničeni polet nastojao ispoljiti i učvr­stiti veličinom zdanja u raskošnim oblicima koji zahtijevahu široki urbanis­tički prostor i u njemu ugledni, istaknuti položaj.In the 17th and 18th centuries the baroque architecture could not be firmly established in Dalmatian towns, which had already created — in the course of the Middle Ages and Renaissance — their urban form and surrounded themselves with mighty walls. In this way there was no room left for the construction of any big and representative building in the baroque style. But the city of Dubrovnik, the capital of the small commercial and maritime republic, was heavily destroyed in the earthquake of 1667 and had to be restored accordingly. Thanks to this fact several important monuments could be built in the baroque style, in order to replace the destroyed ones, as: the Cathedral, Jesuits\u27 Church, the Main Guard, St. Blaise\u27s (the Patron Saint) Church and all the buildings in the main street — Placa. So it happened that among the Gothic and Renaissance buildings of the 15th and 16th centuries, preserved in the earthquake, such as: the Sponza Palace, the City Clock-Tower, the Admiral\u27s Residence, the Palace of the Great Council, Orlando\u27s Column (the symbol of the Dubrovnik liberty) and Onofrio’s Small Fountain, new baroque buildings were erected. Inside the preserved whole, the people of Dubrovnik skillfully incorporated two new baroque objects: the Saint Blaise\u27s Church and the Main Guard; in the main street, joined to the central square, they built up baroque houses. All these buildings did not intrude themselves with their style, sculptural ornaments and proportions upon the elder Gothic–Renaissance ones. In this way a new urban harmony as well as a balance, a composition of the Middle Ages and expansive baroque architecture, was created. In this harmony there is human measure and refinement of the Dubrovnik people for solving urban problems. So for only one century, one of the most valuable acquisitions of the Dubrovnik architecture — harmonious urbanization — has arisen. In this article the author analyzed in detail this example, which shows how — in spite of their own stylish contrasts — Gothic, Renaissance and baroque harmoniously joined together in the very center of Dubrovnik, where there were gathered main state and political buildings and where there was at the same time the traffic center of that sea-port town