St. Ignatius Church, Dubrovnik

There is a temptation when visiting an old and historic city to cram in as many ‘old and historical’ buildings, museums, places of worship as possible. Problem is often they all blend into one! (Secret to visiting the Louvre, chose one or two rooms that interest you, see those pieces of art and then leave. Try and ‘do the Louvre’ and see all the art work, you won’t remember a thing and end up suffering from art fatigue)

Here’s my recommendation for what church to visit in Dubrovnik. Go see the St. Ignatius church, it’s not the cathedral but far more beautiful, if it’s the only church you see in Dubrovnik this is the one to see. It even has a Mass in English at 11am on Sunday morning, for anyone who cares to attend.

Steps leading up to the Church of St. Ignatius. (They're called 'The Spanish Steps' in Dubrovnik too! Rome also has a set!)

St. Ignatius of Layola Church, Dubrovnik

The church was commissioned in 1699 and finally finished in 1725.

The altar showing scenes from St, Ignatius’ life. (There was an information board in several languages!) The artist was Italian from Sicily called Gaetano Garzia.

The panel on the right hand side.

St. Ignatius accepting Fr. Francisco Borga into the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits)

The centre panel

St, Ignatius holding the Society of Jesus Book of Rules. The four women around him represent the 4 continents the Jesuits were working in.

St. Ignatius sending out St. Francis Xavier on his missions. He spent time in Japan as one of the first Christian missionaries there.

One of the side altars has a painting of the death of St. Joseph.

The church has a grotto dedicated to St. Bernadette of Lourdes. 

A beautiful church and if you only want to see one church in Dubrovnik this is the one to see.

I learnt the Croatian for St. Ignatius as well Sveti Ignacija. Although chatting to the manager of my apartment as I checked out I discovered the locals just call this church 'jesuite' Jesuit. He didn't know it was called St. Ignatius. (A little history point, St. Ignatius Layola was the founder of the Jesuit order of priests)