In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Rector’s Palace (Knežev dvor), beside Luža Square at the east end of Stradun, is €15 for an adult and holds the Cultural History Museum (Dubrovnik Museums). From 1 November to 31 March it is open 09:00 to 16:00 and closed on Mondays; from 1 April to 31 October it is open 09:00 to 18:00 every day (opening hours). It is free with the Dubrovnik Pass, and a €20 ticket covers ten Dubrovnik Museums venues for 7 days. Inside are the state rooms, the rector’s apartment, the old jail and a coin collection. Or book a tour: Dubrovnik: Old Town Walking Tour with Local Guidead (from €20, 4.8 stars from 6,067 reviews) gives the history of the square and the palace from a guide before you decide whether to pay for the interior.
⚠️ Closed on Mondays from 1 November to 31 March, and on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and 3 February. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve it is open 09:00 to 12:00. Cards only at the ticket office.
Tickets and hours
Prices and hours are from Dubrovnik Museums, which runs the palace. Ticket offices take card payments only, and e-tickets are sold on the museum’s site.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Rector’s Palace, adult | €15 |
| Rector’s Palace, schoolchildren and students | €8 |
| Rector’s Palace, family (up to 2 adults and children aged 14 or younger) | €35 |
| 10 museums, adult (valid 7 days from the first visit) | €20 |
| 10 museums, schoolchildren and students | €10 |
| 10 museums, family | €45 |
Children under 7, residents of Dubrovnik-Neretva County and members of the museum associations ICOM and HMD enter free. Students of the University of Dubrovnik, RIT Croatia and Libertas International University in Dubrovnik enter free from the beginning of October to the end of June. The ten-museum ticket covers the Rector’s Palace, the Maritime Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, the Archaeological exhibitions at Revelin, the Natural History Museum, the House of Marin Držić, the Museum of Modern Art, the Dulčić-Masle-Pulitika Gallery, Studio Pulitika and the Museum of Homeland War. It allows one visit to each, and the ticket is activated on the first visit.
| Season | Hours |
|---|---|
| 1 November to 31 March | 09:00 to 16:00, closed Mondays |
| 1 April to 31 October | 09:00 to 18:00, every day |
The museum publishes the opening hours for all its venues, and the address is Pred Dvorom 3. A multimedia guide to the palace can be downloaded free from the Dubrovnik Museums site, and the museum’s ticket page shows current visitor numbers and a crowd forecast for each venue.
The atrium and staircase. Photo: JoJan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Which museum ticket to buy
The venues close on different days. From 1 November to 31 March the Maritime Museum is closed on Wednesdays, the Ethnographic Museum on Tuesdays and the Revelin archaeological exhibitions on Wednesdays, and all of them close at 16:00 (opening hours). The palace (€15) and the Maritime Museum (€10) cost €25 on single tickets, so the €20 ticket is cheaper once you visit both. The Dubrovnik Pass gives free entry to nine of the ten venues on the combined ticket, all except the Museum of Homeland War on Mount Srđ (Dubrovnik Pass).
Tours around the palace
The official ticket is the only way inside, and no walking tour replaces it. A guided walk makes sense for the history of the square around the palace, with Sponza Palace, the Bell Tower and Orlando’s Column, before you choose which museum to enter. Check each listing’s date options for what it covers.
Old Town walking tour with a local guide
From €20 · 4.8 stars from 6,067 reviews · 1.5 to 3.5 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Old Town Walking Tour with Local Guidead: a guided Old Town walk with a private option, flagged as a bestseller on the listing. Book at least 10 hours ahead.
Old Town and walls, with an optional Dubrovnik Pass
From €27 · 4.8 stars from 83 reviews · 2.5 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Old Town and City Walls Tour with Optional DU Passad: a guided Old Town and walls walk with skip-the-line entry in the listing, and the Dubrovnik Pass as an option. The pass is the way to get into the palace for free, so this one suits a day that also includes the museums.
Walls, Old Town and Franciscan Monastery
From €28 · 4.8 stars from 2,526 reviews · 2.5 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: City Walls, Old Town Walking Tour & Adriatic Viewad: the walls and the Old Town with a visit to the Franciscan Monastery and its pharmacy (guide), skip-the-line entry in the listing.
Game of Thrones tour with Lokrum
From €22 · 4.9 stars from 7,914 reviews · 1.5 to 3 hours · free cancellation
Dubrovnik: Game of Thrones Tours + Lokrum & Iron Thronead: a Game of Thrones walk with a Lokrum option in the title, for filming locations rather than museum rooms. The Game of Thrones guide lists the places.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Rector’s Palace interior | €15 | Not sold alone |
| Ten museums over 7 days | €20 | Not sold alone |
| Palace plus walls and more on one card | Dubrovnik Pass, €40 for one day and €50 for three (Dubrovnik Pass) | Old Town and walls tour with optional pass from €27 |
| A guide to the square | Not offered | Old Town walking tour from €20 |
What is inside
The Cultural History Museum holds about twenty thousand objects from the middle of the 14th century to the early 20th, in fifteen collections. The permanent display recreates the palace as it was:
- Ground floor: the state offices, the court room and the jail.
- First floor: the chapel, the reception rooms, and the rector’s apartment with his study, living room and bedroom.
- Mezzanine: Dubrovnik coins, medals, seals, coats of arms and measures, an armoury, goldsmiths’ work, the inventory of Domus Christi and the state apothecary.
- The atrium: a bust of the sea captain and benefactor Miho Pracat, made in 1628 by P. Giacometti, stands here. The Senate decided in 1638 to place it there, and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board says it is the only public monument the Republic put up to a citizen (Tourist Board). The atrium has strong acoustics and is often used as a concert venue.
- Zelenci: the original bronze figures that strike the hours on the Bell Tower are kept in the palace, and copies replaced them on the tower in 1929 (Tourist Board).
Above the entrance door is the line Obliti privatorum publica curate, which means forget your private business and concern yourselves with public affairs.
The Miho Pracat bust in the atrium. Photo: JoJan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
The building and the rector
The palace was the seat of government and the official residence of the rector of the Dubrovnik Republic. It was built in the first half of the 15th century on the remains of a medieval fort called the castellum, to a design by the Neapolitan architect Onofrio di Giordano della Cava. Gunpowder explosions in 1435 and 1463 destroyed parts of it, and Juraj Dalmatinac and Michelozzo of Florence were brought in after the second. The 1667 earthquake damaged it again, and the atrium was partly rebuilt with the Baroque staircase. The result is Gothic, with Renaissance and Baroque additions.
The rector held office for a one-month mandate and lived in the palace during it. The building also housed the Minor and Major Council halls, the courtroom, the administration office, the prisons, an arsenal and a gunpowder store (Tourist Board).
The atrium clock and coat of arms. Photo: JoJan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
For a hotel near Luža Square, see where to stay in Dubrovnik.
What to see next
- Stradun and Old Town walk: the Bell Tower, Sponza Palace and Orlando’s Column are beside the palace.
- Dubrovnik Pass guide: free entry here, and the sums for the walls.
- Franciscan Monastery and Old Pharmacy: the other museum on Stradun.
- City Walls tickets: the walls close at 15:00 in winter.
- Mount Srđ cable car: the Museum of Homeland War in the Imperial Fort is on the ten-museum ticket.
- Free things to do in Dubrovnik: the squares, harbour and views that cost nothing.
Common questions
How much does the Rector's Palace cost?
An adult ticket is €15 and a ticket for schoolchildren and students is €8. A family ticket for up to 2 adults with children aged 14 or younger is €35. Children under 7 and residents of Dubrovnik-Neretva County go in free (Dubrovnik Museums).
What are the Rector's Palace opening hours?
From 1 November to 31 March it is open 09:00 to 16:00 and closed on Mondays. From 1 April to 31 October it is open 09:00 to 18:00 every day. It is closed on Christmas Day, New Year's Day and the Feast of St Blaise, and open 09:00 to 12:00 on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Is the Rector's Palace in the Dubrovnik Pass?
Yes. The Cultural History Museum in the Rector's Palace is free with any Dubrovnik Pass.
What is the 10 museums ticket?
Dubrovnik Museums sells a combined ticket for ten museums and galleries at €20, valid for 7 days from the first visit, with one visit to each.
Can I pay by cash at the Rector's Palace?
No. Dubrovnik Museums says tickets at all its ticket offices can be bought only by card payment on a POS device. E-tickets are sold on its website.
Why did the rector only serve one month?
The head of the Dubrovnik Republic held office for a one-month mandate, and during it he lived in the palace.
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