Dubrovnik after Dark

It was already dark when we walked down the street of cobble stones, with tall stone walls like canyon on both sides. We wandered alone down deserted streets and alleys of the Dubrovnik old town.

We discovered the best time for a stroll through Dubrovnik’s Old Town is after dark. We passed by deserted shop windows which looked very different at day time.

The Dubrovnik old town at night is as beautiful as it is during the day.

We glided down Dubrovnik’s main street, the Stradun and  strolled past churches and shops closed up tight for the night. The shop windows were very appealing.

As we reached the end of the Stradun, we  turned to the square on our right and discovered this elegant Rector’s Palace which was  the seat of power in the old city-state of Dubrovnik.

This beautiful building is a harmonious mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements. The original palace was modeled after the Roman imperial palace, with some influences from Venetian palaces. There were two gun powder explosions in the 15th century and an earthquake in the 17th century which destroyed part of the palace. The existing building was rebuilt at the end of the 17th century.

The central portico features beautiful archways and a second story mezzanine. The most beautiful part is the portico with the open ceiling and archways.

Further stroll brought us to the nearby beautiful Luza square where we  found the Church of St. Blaise, who is  Dubrovnik’s patron saint. St. Blaise was also the protector of the Independent Republic of Ragusa. The church is easily recognizable by the statue of the city’s patron, St. Blaise on its top! This 18th century Baroque church is one of the most recognizable Dubrovnik attractions.

Our empty stomachs reminded that we still did not have our dinner yet and we should be looking for a suitable restaurant.

This restaurant by the side of the alley looked inviting but at this time of the night, it was all full.

This restaurant really looked nice and it was blissful just to sit here and have alfresco dinning while gazing at the beautiful buildings nearby with the nights on.

After dinner, we walked our way back  to the hotel along the hilly driveway with roadside lights guiding our way.  .

When we reached our hotel. it was already late and we collapsed onto the comfortable seats by the pool while others opted for an evening swim.

We were happy that we were given another fine and blissful day and an enjoyable evening!