The treasury
The head of Saint Blaise in a jewelled Byzantine crown.
Zitumassin โ Public domain ยท Bernard Gagnon โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Bernard Gagnon โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Bernard Gagnon โ CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes โ it is in fact the reason to come. The cathedral itself is an elegant Baroque church but not exceptional by European standards. The treasury, however, is a collection of **gold and silver across centuries** assembled by the Republic of Ragusa, its centrepiece the **head of Saint Blaise** in a jewelled Byzantine crown โ the city's patron, whom you see carved on every gate and tower in Dubrovnik. The charge is small, the room is small, and the whole visit takes half an hour.
**Saint Blaise** has been Dubrovnik's patron since the tenth century, and the story holds that he appeared to a local priest to warn of an imminent Venetian attack, saving the city. Since then he has been the Republic's emblem: you find his statue on **almost every gate and tower** of the walls, and on old flags and coins, holding a small model of the city in his hand. Every **3 February** the **Festa svetog Vlaha** is held โ the city's greatest feast, with processions and banners, inscribed on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage.
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A domed Baroque cathedral in the heart of the old town, with layers of history beneath it: twentieth-century excavation under its floor found the remains of **two earlier cathedrals**, one of them Byzantine from around the seventh century โ meaning there has been a church on this spot for fourteen hundred years. Dubrovnik's cherished story holds that the English king **Richard the Lionheart** survived a storm near the island of Lokrum on his way back from crusade and gave money to build a cathedral in the city in fulfilment of a vow. Historians are cautious about the details, but the story is part of the city's identity. The **1667 earthquake** destroyed the medieval cathedral entirely, and the present building went up after it in the Roman Baroque manner. Its most precious holding is the **treasury of relics**: an exceptional collection of gold and silver, above all the **head of Saint Blaise** โ Dubrovnik's patron โ in a jewelled Byzantine crown, with his hands and leg in golden vessels, alongside hundreds of pieces across the centuries. The cathedral also holds an altarpiece attributed to **Titian**.
The head of Saint Blaise in a jewelled Byzantine crown.
A vow after surviving a storm off Lokrum.
An altarpiece attributed to the Venetian painter.
Poljana Marina Drลพiฤa 1, 20000 Dubrovnik