Sponza Palace

The Sponza Palace (Croatian: Palača Sponza; Italian: Palazzo Sponza), also called Divona (from dogana, customs), is a 16th-century palace in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Its name is derived from the Latin word "spongia", the spot where rainwater was collected.

The rectangular building with an inner courtyard was built in a mixed Gothic and Renaissance style between 1516 and 1522 by Paskoje Miličević Mihov. The loggia and sculptures were crafted by the brothers Andrijić and other stonecutters.

The palace has served a variety of public functions, including as a customs office and bonded warehouse, mint, armoury, treasury, bank and school. It became the cultural center of the Republic of Ragusa with the establishment of the Academia dei Concordi, a literary academy, in the 16th century. It survived the 1667 earthquake without damage. The palace's atrium served as a trading center and business meetingplace. A Latin inscription on an arch testifies to this public function:

Tekst overgenomen uit “Sponza Palace” op de Engelstalige Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Sponza Palace staat op plaats 800 van 5.793 in de bekendheidsranglijst van deze atlas en op plaats 5 van de 47 die de atlas in Kroatië in kaart brengt. Gebouwd in 1516, en daarmee ouder dan 48% van de gedateerde bouwwerken in de atlas — een van de 495 bouwwerken in de atlas die uit de 16e eeuw stammen. Zie hoe dat zich verhoudt in de kastelenstatistiek.

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