At the end of Stradun, within the historic administrative-sacred centre of Dubrovnik, on the north-eastern part of "Placa", is located one of the most beautiful Dubrovnik palaces - Sponza Palace. The atrium of this beautiful Gothic-Renaissance palace, decorated with arcades, was the commercial centre and business meeting place of the Republic of Dubrovnik, and today it is the most desirable place for organizing exclusive events in Dubrovnik.
The Sponza Palace was built over a period of six years - between 1516 and 1522 according to the project of municipal engineer Paskoje Miličević. It is decorated with Gothic arches, latticework and other decorations of the late Gothic style, so this palace is another excellent example of the transitional, Gothic-Renaissance style of construction in Dubrovnik. There is an open area on the ground floor, as well as on the first floor in the courtyard, and there is also a shaded porch on the front that was made by stonemasons, mostly the Andrijić brothers from the famous Korčula family of builders and sculptors.
Formerly the commercial centre of Dubrovnik, today a treasury of the written word
The palace is known by two names - Sponza and Divona, which testify to its two historical purposes - public cistern (ital. spongia) and customs house (lat. douana). In addition, the palace housed various warehouses, as well as a mint that operated until the fall of the Republic of Dubrovnik. On the first floor of the palace, meetings of the nobility were held, and later there was a bank, school, state treasury and treasury. In addition to trade, at the end of the 16th century, Sponza became the cultural centre of Dubrovnik. Namely, the first literary institution in Dubrovnik was founded there - the Academy of Composers, which gathered intellectuals of that time to discuss art, literature and scientific achievements.
Today, the Sponza Palace houses the State Archives in Dubrovnik, which has been operating as an independent institution since 1920. From its earliest beginnings, Dubrovnik and its inhabitants paid great attention to the written word and the preservation of documents. Thanks to this, the archive today preserves archival material from the beginning of the 11th century until today. With a total of more than 400 funds and collections, among which the funds of the Republic of Dubrovnik contain more than 7,000 bound books and more than 100,000 individual documents, the State Archives in Dubrovnik is one of the richest in this part of Europe. It is even compared to those in the Vatican, Vienna, Venice or Constantinople.
Elegant events among impressive Gothic arches
The atrium of the Sponza Palace is today a frequent choice of couples for organizing weddings and one of the most elegant spaces in Dubrovnik for organizing events. Numerous decorative arches and monumental centuries-old stone make it ideal for exclusive events with a touch of history. Thus, it is possible to organize business receptions, musical, dramatic and social events, incentive programs such as Renaissance evenings, but also lectures, smaller conferences, presentations, etc.
Sponza also hosts numerous theatre performances as part of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, and during the opening of the Festival, a ceremony takes place from its terrace in which actors dressed as Rectors and other Dubrovnik officials hand over the keys to the city to the theatre.
The atrium area of the Sponza Palace can host approximately 50 to 70 people in a gala dinner setting, up to 120 people in a conference setting, and approximately 110 people for a wedding ceremony.