Dubrovnik - Fort Lovrijenac

On a penninsula, 37 meters high on a crag above the western edge of the Old Town, there is Fort Lovrijenac, named after the old church of St. Lovro, the christian martyr from the 3rd century.

Lovrijenac was always regarded as the city's prime defensive structure. Thus, for its position and impregnability (seaward walls are up to 12 meters thick), it has also been called Dubrovnik's Gibraltar.

The fort has three terraces facing the sea, and inside the fort there is a courtyard with a water-tank, because the city water pipeline wasn't reaching to Lovrijenac. Carved above the entrance to Lovrijenac is the famous inscription: "Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro," which translates "Liberty is not for sale, not even for gold." Also, on the wall plane of Lovrijenac, there is an effigy of St. Blaise dating from the second half of the16th century, the work of the French sculptor De Spinis. Lovrijenac was defended by a garrison of about 20-25 soldiers under the command of a member of the nobility. Armory consisted of a larger number of cannons, the most famous one being "Lizard" dating from the beginning of the 16th century, and lost in the sea in 1816, when the Austrian reign carried the armory to Vienna. During the Italian occupation in the Second World War Lovrijenac was used as a prison. Since 1952, it is one of the favorite venues for open-air theatre during the Summer Festival, especailly for Shakespeare's "Hamlet."