In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Fort Lovrjenac, on a 37 m rock just west of Pile Gate, is included in the City Walls ticket (adult €40 on November dates, €20 in December) and in the Dubrovnik Pass, so visit it on the same ticket as the walls (DPDS webshop). A fort-only ticket is €15 on November dates and does not cover the walls. DPDS dates its origins to between 1018 and 1038, and over its gate is a Latin line about freedom and gold. Or book a tour: Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones Tours + Lokrum & Iron Thronead (from €22, 4.9 stars from 7,914 reviews) walks the filming locations, including this fortress as the Red Keep, with a guide.
⚠️ Event days shorten the opening hours. The fortress is a Summer Festival stage, and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board posts reduced hours for single dates in its news section, for example 8:00 to 17:00 on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Buy the City Walls ticket, not the fort-only ticket, if you want both.
Tickets
Prices are from the City Walls webshop, which also sells Lovrjenac. The price follows the visit date you pick.
| Ticket | What it gets you |
|---|---|
| City Walls ticket, adult €40 on November dates, €20 on December dates | The walls, Lovrjenac, the Western Outer Wall (closed December to February) and the coin collection on Gundulić Square |
| Lovrjenac ticket, €15 on November dates, €5 on December dates | The fortress only. Adults get a discount on the City Walls ticket, and children 18 and under enter free |
| Dubrovnik Pass, €40 for one day, €50 for three, €60 for seven for visits until 30 November 2026 | Free entry to Lovrjenac, one visit (Dubrovnik Pass FAQ) |
The walls ticket allows one tour and no re-entry, but you can visit Lovrjenac before or after the walls. A ticket bought at Lovrjenac does not cover the walls without paying extra at the walls entrance, according to the DPDS FAQ. The full price list and hours for the walls are on the City Walls page. DPDS says its heritage sites are difficult for people with disabilities, and it gives a discount on presentation of a disability card.
Lovrjenac from the walls. Photo: Sumitsurai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tours with Lovrjenac
The fortress is part of the walls ticket, so a tour is for the stories rather than the entry. The Game of Thrones walks are the ones that stop here, because the Dubrovnik Tourist Board says the fortress doubled as the Red Keep. Check each listing’s date options for what it covers.
Game of Thrones with a Lokrum option
From €22 · 4.9 stars from 7,914 reviews · 1.5 to 3 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones Tours + Lokrum & Iron Thronead: the listing names the Walk of Shame, Blackwater Bay and the Red Keep among its locations, with an option to stay on Lokrum afterwards and an Iron Throne photo on the Lokrum option only. Book at least 10 hours ahead.
Game of Thrones walking tour
From €25 · 4.9 stars from 1,080 reviews · 2 to 3 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones Walking Tourad: a guided walk through the city’s filming locations, two to three hours, with free cancellation.
Two-hour Game of Thrones walk
From €25 · 4.8 stars from 220 reviews · 2 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Legendary Game of Thrones Walking Tourad: a two-hour walk with a private option, bookable one hour ahead.
Walls and wars
From €25 · 4.8 stars from 569 reviews · 2 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Walls and Wars Walking Tourad: a two-hour guided walk that pairs the walls with the city’s wars in its title, for a history angle rather than a television one.
Official ticket or tour: the prices side by side
Operator prices are for an adult. A GetYourGuide “from” price is the cheapest option in the product.
| What you want | Official | On GetYourGuide |
|---|---|---|
| Lovrjenac only, November dates | €15 | Not sold alone |
| Lovrjenac with the walls, November dates | €40 | Not sold alone; guided walks start at €22 |
| Lovrjenac with the walls, December dates | €20 | Same walks from €22 |
| A guide who explains the filming locations | Not offered | Game of Thrones walks from €22 |
Getting there
Lovrjenac sits in the suburb of Pile, west of Pile Gate, and the approach is a staircase from the port at Pile, opened in the early 1930s alongside the pines planted at the foot of the rock (DPDS). Libertas city buses end at Pile, and a single ticket on board is €2.50 (Libertas price list). On foot, it is just outside Pile Gate: see the Stradun and Old Town walk.
The fortress and its stair path. Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
What you see inside
DPDS, the Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities, runs the fortress and describes it on its Lovrjenac page. The fortress is built around a central courtyard, with rooms for the garrison and its commander, stores for cannons and three levels above the ground floor, mostly open platforms with battlements.
- The gate inscription: Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, carved into the gate lintel, is the line Lovrjenac is best known for (Tourist Board). A second inscription over the inner gate, demolished in the 19th century so cannon could be brought out, is known only from records: it called on the giant Typhon to defend the walls.
- St Blaise: a statue of the city’s patron stands in a niche at the north-west corner, made in 1559 by Jacob de Spinis of Orléans and Vicko Lujov of Korčula.
- The chapel: the fort is named after St Lawrence, whose church stood here, and the chapel is still built into the fortress.
- The platforms: the upper levels are mostly open platforms with battlements, facing the walls’ Bokar fortress across the bay.
The Tourist Board calls it the Gibraltar of Dubrovnik. The walls are up to twelve metres thick in places on the west and north sides, after the 1464 reinforcement.
Bokar and the Old Town from Lovrjenac. Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
History in short
DPDS dates the origins of Lovrjenac to between 1018 and 1038. The first preserved written mention is from 1301, when a commander was appointed. The fortress was strengthened across the 15th and 16th centuries and badly damaged in the earthquake of 1667, and repairs went on until the end of that century. After the fall of the Republic, Austria made it a barracks. In 1907 the army left and it was leased to a hotel chain that planned to convert it, which the citizens of Dubrovnik opposed, and in 1908 it passed to a local society. In 1933 it hosted part of the P.E.N. world congress. In the Second World War it was a prison. Today the Summer Festival uses it as a stage, particularly for Hamlet.
Game of Thrones
The Dubrovnik Tourist Board says Lovrjenac doubled as the Red Keep, where many of the show’s power plays and confrontations took place (Tourist Board). The Game of Thrones guide lists the other filming locations that can be visited.
For a hotel on the Pile side, see where to stay in Dubrovnik.
What to see next
- City Walls tickets: the ticket that includes this fort, with hours and entrances.
- Game of Thrones guide: the Red Keep and the other locations.
- Dubrovnik Pass guide: free entry here with the pass.
- Stradun and Old Town walk: from Pile Gate along the main street.
- Mount Srđ cable car: the high view back across the bay to the fort.
- Free things to do in Dubrovnik: views and squares that cost nothing.
Common questions
Is Fort Lovrjenac included in the City Walls ticket?
Yes. A City Walls ticket includes admission to Lovrjenac Fortress, and so does the Dubrovnik Pass. A fort-only ticket is €15 for visit dates in November 2026 and €5 in December 2026, and with it adults get a discount on the City Walls ticket and children 18 and under enter free.
Can I use a Lovrjenac ticket to walk the City Walls?
Only by paying extra at the walls entrance. The Society of Friends of Dubrovnik Antiquities says a ticket bought for Lovrjenac does not cover the walls, while a walls ticket does cover Lovrjenac.
How high is Fort Lovrjenac?
The fortress stands on a rock 37 m high above the sea.
What does the inscription over the gate say?
It reads Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, which means freedom is not sold for all the gold in the world.
Was Fort Lovrjenac in Game of Thrones?
Yes. The Dubrovnik Tourist Board says it doubled as the Red Keep, the royal castle of King's Landing.
What is performed at Fort Lovrjenac?
The Dubrovnik Summer Festival uses it as a stage, particularly for classical drama and Shakespeare's Hamlet.
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