The cathedral is located very near the Rector's Palace, so we went from one to the other and stepped inside the cathedral for a few minutes. Its exterior is large and imposing, and the interior is not as ornate as some of the other churches in the area. It is large and a cool refuge from the heat, and we enjoyed sitting down for a few moments and admiring it. The cathedral is free to enter; you can pay to enter the treasury, but we skipped that piece and just enjoyed the main part of the church.

Large cathedral in the old town with all the usual trappings of a religious building. The main thing by that took my eye were the very modern “stations of the cross” made in a mosaic style which are really eye catching. Overall a nice building to look at.

The Dubrovnik Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in 17th century replacing the older cathedral that was destroyed in the earthquake. Its blue dome is one of Dubrovnik’s postcard views, visible from almost any point when one walls. The cathedral has a lovely interior, with numerous old religious paintings, one of them of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary that is attributed to Titian. According to urban legend, Richard the Lionheart paid for the construction of the original Romanesque style church after surviving a shipwreck on the nearby island of Lokrum. This church was destroyed in the 1667 earthquake and rebuilt in the new Baroque style seen today between 1672 and 1713. The first thing we noticed were the four sleek, slender and richly decorated Corinthian columns flanking the entrance of the Cathedral. The Cathedral is built in the shape of a three-nave building with a grand baroque dome on top which is visible from anywhere in Old Town. I did not find the interior very awe inspiring, it was somewhat underwhelming but we snapped a few pictures of a painting from the school of Titian – the Assumption of the Virgin that is hung above the stark contemporary altar.

This was part of a city tour with our ships and was nice to get out of the hot sun and sit for a bit. The church is interesting, but not that impressive compared to other cathedrals in Europe. There is a small reliquary room with some silver treasures and old books. The entire visit can probably be done in 20 minutes.