Gradska zidine (city walls)

To reach the walls, climb the steps immediately to your left after passing through Pile Gate. The walls, as they stand today, follow a ground plan laid down in the 13th century. However, the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 sent panic waves throughout the Balkans, and Ragusa hastily appointed the renowned Renaissance architect, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (1396-1472) from Florence, to further reinforce the city fortifications with towers and bastions. On average the walls are 24 m high and up to 3 m thick on the seaward side, 6 m on the inland side. The highlight of any visit to Dubrovnik has to be a walk around the city walls. To walk the full circuit, 2 km, you should allow at least an hour.