Western complex of the walls dates from the thirteenth century, when the City was spreading northwards and raising its walls. It was a simple, vertical, one and a half meters thick wall with battlements and merlons. On the inner side was a roundabout corridor supported by small arches and consoles. Interpolated into the wall were five square towers open towards the City: Kalarinja, Puncjela, Pile Tower, St. Francis Tower, the Upper Corner Tower, the Pile Corner Tower and the Minčeta Fortress. Later on, the Bokar Fortress was added.
From 1455 to 1465 the height and strength of this section of the Walls is increased still further, so that the wall on the outside is in places up to four and a half meters thick, which means that the overall thickness of the main City Wall was between five and a half and six metres. At the top of the wall were merlons, later on strong parapets with cannon embrasures were added, and next to which on the inside small stone walls were erected. In 1526, a staircase was built leading from the Church of the Holy Saviour to the walls, which today serves as the main entrance. In the seventeenth century, circular guard posts were erected in strategic points and on the corners.
Western Outer Wall, stretching between Bokar and Minčeta, was constructed in 1351 as a defence of the main City Wall. It comprised a relatively high vertical wall with crenels, i.e. loopholes and topped with merlons. The wall was modernized in accordance with the afore mentioned project by Michelozzo Michelozzi: the top section is significantly widened, and in front of all the towers of the main City Wall small, semi-circular forts of bevelled walls are built. In the lower section of the outer walls, from the City gate to Bokar, an underground corridor with casemates was built from which cannons are fired. With this new system of defence Michelozzi has linked all the defence posts into a single entity, regardless of difference in levels. In the sixteenth century the walls were raised somewhat, the battlements were reshaped, in some places parapets with cannon embrasures and gun loop-holes were constructed. In 1625 the lower section of the outer walls from the City Gate to Bokar was backfilled with soil in order to provide better protection against cannon fire. In the nineteenth century the top section, from the City Gate to Minčeta, was also filled with soil and became a park.
pod Minčetom s kraja 15. stoljeća, otkrivena prilikom obnove kule Gornji ugao, iznimno je vrijedno nalazište i jedinstven prostor koji svjedoči o industrijsko-gospodarskoj grani u vrijeme Dubrovačke Republike. U ljevaonici, koja se prostire na oko 600 metara kvadratnih, pripremao se barut, lijevala bronca, oblikovala zvona i uporabni predmeti, a najvažnija je bila proizvodnja oružja koje se zatim izvozilo na Sredozemlje i Balkan. Ljevaonica pod Minčetom djelovala je do 17. stoljeća, kada nakon Velike trešnje 1667. biva zatrpana. Po površini i očuvanosti spada među najbolje sačuvane lokalitete ovakve vrste u Europi, a nakon obnove Društva prijatelja dubrovačke starine, u srpnju 2017. godine otvorena je za javnost.
an imposing and the highest fortress of the entire fortification complex of Dubrovnik, sits at the joint between the western and the northern sections of the main City Wall, at an exceptionally vulnerable place of the defence, and one of the four strategically most vital sites. Being the dominant feature in the vista of the City, it has become its symbol. Minčeta is a round tower with a well organized battlements supported with consoles. It rises from a round drum from which, on both sides of the city issue open outer walls. Its name originates from the famous aristocratic family of Dubrovnik, the Menze-Minčetić, which donated that plot of land at the start of the fourteenth century.
In 1319 Nikifor Ranjina constructed a square tower, the first Minčeta, which differed in its positioning and its shape from other square towers within the main City Wall. Notably, three of its corners extended into the outer area, and it had two platforms – one at half height, and the other at the top, with a well developed battlements and merlons. In 1445 it was decided that Minčeta must be modernized, i.e. it had to lowered, its corners rounded and the remaining part be given a round shape. But in 1461 the famous Florentine builder and sculptor, one Michelozzo Michelozzi arrived in Dubrovnik and was entrusted with the modernization of walls and supervision of all the works. As the works on the modernization of Minčeta were in progress, and being aware of the vulnerability of the time when one way of warfare was changing into another, i.e. from cold steel to fire arms, he produced a model for the reconstruction which would make concurrent defence from both methods of waging war possible. On top of the round base of the fortress, the drum, he formed a wide platform for the positioning of guns, while inside of it he constructed enclosed defence walls on three levels. Issuing radially from the roundabout corridor were casemates – nine at each level. The casemates had three sections: one for airing along the corridor, one for cannons and one for cold steel. This kind of design also made it possible for archers to take part in the fight. All that was conceived twenty years before Baccio Pontelli constructed the first casemate in Ostia.
The enclosed defence walls Michelozzo had linked with the open outer walls stretching from the Bokar Fortress, thus incorporating the entire defence line of the western part of the City into a compact entity. Following his departure the works on Minčeta were taken over by the famous builder from Šibenik, Juraj Dalmatinac (beginning of fifteenth century – 1473/75). Although there are no written records of his work in Dubrovnik, or on Minčeta, it is assumed that he linked Michelozzi’s enclosed defence walls with the body of the fortress by way of a scarp, a bevelled outer wall.
The construction works on Minčeta were brought to a completion towards the end of the fifteenth century by Paskoje Miličević (around 1440-1516) who added well developed battlements with merlons, supported by consoles. In 1646 the uppermost corridor of the enclosed defence walls was filled with soil so as to be impervious to the strikes by the enemy artillery. In the seventeenth century the battlement was reconstructed by Marin Držić from Dubrovnik. Sturdy parapets with small, raised approach walls, locally known as banket, and cannon embrasures were added. That was the last intervention undergone by this Fortress, and it has remained the same to this day.
was built in the second half of the thirteenth century, in the area of the fortification feature known as pincers – an area deeply imbedded into the tissue of the City. At its corners the towers of Upper Corner and Minčeta were built. In the fifteenth century the area of pincers was used for the preparation of gunpowder and refinery of saltpetre, and today it is a playground.
The appearance of the tower is in line with the development phases of the western section of the City Walls in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. During the Austrian rule it had undergone changes similar to other towers.
is located above the Franciscan monastery of Little Brothers, after which it was named. It was also built in the second half of the thirteenth century, and about two hundred years later its walls were both considerably lowered and strengthened. In the middle of the sixteenth century its interior was vaulted. It also suffered significant damage in the 1667 earthquake, but it was repaired. During the Austrian rule the Tower underwent a number of alterations.
is a semi-circular fortification located to the northern side of the Pile Outer Gates, the construction of which began in 1471. The Austrian authorities began to demolish it which provoked a massive show of discontent by the citizens of Dubrovnik who stopped it and initiated the reconstruction of the demolished battlements.
KANTONATA is adjacent to the Pile Inner Gates. Kantonata is a fortified corner of a wall usually considerably higher than the wall itself from which a watch is kept on the surrounding area, and which does not have its inner area. Its construction began in 1381 when a high wall with a guard house was built. Based on the concept of Michelozzo Michelozzi (1396-1472), great architect from Florence who was in charge of the supervision and management of all the works carried out on improving the defence of the City between 1461 and 1464, the height of kantonata was reduced, the Walls strengthened, and at the level of the second floor a casemate corridor was constructed as the approach to the new cannon embrasures. In the nineteenth century a building was built within the fortress.
are one the three main entrances into the City, named after the suburb of Pile to the western side of the City. It consists of the Outer Gate and the Inner Gate. Between them there used to be an area which is today open to vehicular traffic, and there is also a stone staircase designed in 1923 by the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović.
construction began in 1351 when it was decided to build a new western outer wall. A single arch stone bridge below it was built in 1398 by Master Givanni di Sienna. Within the expansion of the City’s outer walls after 1460 the new Pile Outer Gate was built by the local builders Grubačević and Bogosalić. Ten years later the City moat at Pile was widened, which resulted in the construction of a new stone bridge supported by three arches. Those works were done in 1474 according to the project of the great local Master builder Paskoje Miličević (around 1440-1516). In 1533 the first stone arch of the bridge, linked to the Outer Gate, was taken down in order to install a wooden drawbridge. The drawbridge itself was removed during the Austrian rule and replaced by a concrete bridge, while its stone fence was replaced by an industrially produced iron railing. In the course of renovation and restoration of the Walls in the nineteen sixties the bridge was reconstructed and restored to its original state.
was built in the second half of the thirteenth century, when this part of the main City Wall was built. Strengthening of the wall resulted in their Gothic style which has survived to this day. It was a double door with a sturdy wooden doorframe, secured on the inside with thick beams propped against the wall so as to prevent their forceful opening. Being an exceptionally sensitive spot in the defence of the City the Gate was guarded at all times. The keys were kept by the Rector who handed them over to the guards every morning, and in the evening – after the Gate was locked, the keys were given back to him for safe-keeping.
Construction of THE Puncjela tower, the central square tower located north of Bokar, began in 1305 in the grounds of St. Clare convent. Its name comes from the old-Italian name for virgins – pulzelle. In 1450 the tower is vaulted and covered with a roof. Within the drive to modernize the western outer walls and strengthen the Wall as per Michelozzo’s idea from 1461, walls of the tower are lowered and strengthened, the body is expanded northwards and the roof is taken off. Later on the convent used the ground floor as a kitchen. A special feature of the tower is the statue of the sitting St. Blasius in the Renaissance niche in the outer jacket.
nalazi se na jugozapadnom uglu, na jednom od glavnih strateških mjesta, braneći prilaz morem zapadnom potezu zidina i zapadnom ulazu u grad. Leži dijelom na morskoj hridi odvojenoj od kopna, a njezino podnožje oplakuje more. U vrijeme svojega nastanka nazivala se Zvjezdan ili kula Brsalja po streljani koja se nalazila nedaleko od nje, preko gradskog jarka.
Tvrđava se počela graditi 1461. prema projektu Michelozza Michelozzija, koji ju je zamislio kao kazamatnu utvrdu s radijalno postavljenim topovskim nišama, s dvije razine u unutrašnjosti i otvorenom platformom na vrhu. Gradnja se znatno oduljila, a tek se 1570. nadograđuje prema prijedlogu vojnog inženjera Antonija Ferramolina iz Bergama (kraj 15. st. – 1550.), koji je 1538. boravio u Dubrovniku i izradio nekoliko varijanti rekonstrukcije i nadogradnje zidina. Tim zahvatom Bokar je dobio današnji izgled.
Uz tvrđavu Bokar nalazila se KULA KALARINJA, koja je ime dobila po grčkom nazivu lijepa luka za uvalu, zaklonište i privezište za manje brodice. Sagrađena je u drugoj polovici 13. stoljeća i bila četvrtasta poput svih drugih tadašnjih kula. Izgradnjom zapadnog predziđa i Bokara sredinom 15. stoljeća gubi istaknutu ulogu u obrani Grada. U katastrofalnom potresu 1667. bila je izrazito oštećena. Poslije su popravljeni zidovi, ali kula nije obnovljena. U 19. stoljeću prigrađeno joj je stubište kojim se prilazi tvrđavi Bokar.
