Original scientific paper
THE RECTOR`S PALACE IN DUBROVNIK PRIOR TO 1435
Nada Grujić
; Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu
Abstract
The Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik is one of the most important monuments of profane architecture not only in that city but along the whole of the Adriatic coast. The history of its construction, particularly of that from the 15th and 16th centuries- has been the subject of many accounts; this will deal with the periods that precede the reconstruction after the first of 1435. A detailed architectural recording of the Palace and then the analysis of some wall probes have shown that after all rebuilding operations within the current complex the core of the older building is still preserved - from the 14th and perhaps some earlier centuries. According to archive data, the construction of defensive facilities can be monitored on this site from the 13th century. Then in the Statue or Charter of the city 1272, 1296) the names castrum and casteflum appeared. At the end of the century, individual parts started appearing in the documents, parts that were clearly outside the context of the purely defensive function of the castle: the camerlengia (1281) and the loci a domini comitis ( 1283 ). And in the 1303 the hall of the Great Council was also to be found in the Rector's Palace. The change of name came in the mid-14th century- first it was palatium, and then palazzo maggior. At that time the palace was to obtain the finely designed door, the windows with the arch and the so-called balcony. Within it was the Church of St Mark, as well as the prisons. At the end of the 14th century in several documents the atrium and then the loggia were mentioned. The transformation of a complex of primarily or originally defensive nature to a palace of a public and residential character at the highest level took place with the gradual addition of rooms of various purposes to the oldest towers: the Rector's and the Penal towers. First a southern wing was built, where the armoury and religious area would be, and then with the Great and Small Council chambers the complex spread to the west wing. This sequence of building is confirmed by the documents, but also by the directions of the walls of the oldest parts of the Rector's Palace, which are deviate slightly from the later parts, which corresponds to the directions of the streets and the plot divisions of the oldest parts of the city. Because of the exceptional importance of the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik, comparisons with not only the residential building in Dubrovnik of the time but also with architectural forms which were close to the people in power can be made- with the construction schemes dominant at the time in Venice. However, many lines of relationship can be drawn with the residential architecture of the same period. The development of building forms that can be monitored in the Rector's Palace up to the end of the 13th century to the beginning of the 14th century does not only complete the image of the creation of an exceptionally complex building, but also contributes to the understanding of many lost structures of the city's tissue. However, equally important is the fact that the Palace, as the most prestigious building not only of the city but also of outside the city and in the 14th century of quite distant territory, had an important effect on the construction and design of the whole area of Dubrovnik. Providing approaches to buildings of various purposes - from public buildings and residential palaces in the city to resorts outside the city, the Rector's Palace remained for several centuries the model for every prestigious building.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
109963
URI
Publication date:
12.8.2005.
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