Dubrovnik Ethnographic Museum
Why is the Dubrovnik Ethnographic museum called “Rupe” (holes)? Because it is situated inside the building of the old city’s granary.
The Dubrovnik Ethnographic museum is a real jewel. To get there, one needs to climb the stairs, that’s true. However, it is totally worth it. First of all, the very building is authentic. The Dubrovnik Republic built it in the 16th century as a granary. In the past, it was very difficult to get enough cereal supplies for the whole population. Dubrovnik couldn’t produce as much as it needed, so the Republic had to import. They were importing the grain from Southern Italy, Greece, Albania, and other countries. Many times, the wars would cut the trade routes. The Dubrovnik government never risked it. It made all the efforts to collect useful information from many sides in order to plan and organize the import the grain from.
Traditionally, we call this building “rupe”, which literally means “holes”. It refers to the dry wells dug in the rock to store the cereals. In fact, they are underground silos. You can see openings in the floor of the lower level and look in the deep silos. As far as we know, the Republic could store up to 1500 tons of grains in the 15 wells. That quantity was enough to feed the entire city for a whole year.
Dubrovnik Ethnographic Museum inside the old granary
The Dubrovnik Ethnographic Museum is situated on the first and the second floor of the building. On the first floor, one can see how people from the countryside lived in the past. Practically, it is a journey to another time. How were the people producing olive oil bask then? Where did they store the wine? What did they use to carry the grapes from the vineyards? The answers are right here.
Finally, the visit leads us to the second floor. The national costumes there have each their own story. Besides, there is a valuable collection of jewels and many other objects that accompanied the costumes in the past. Which materials did people use to sew the clothes? What influenced their look? Just by looking at the costumes, one can learn a lot about life in the past. I hope you will enjoy the visit!
Few things you should keep in mind if you decide to visit the Dubrovnik Ethnographic museum :
- The entrance fee is 20 euros per person (adults); children (age 7 to 18) – 8 euros; children under 7 years of age – free
- With the same ticket, you can visit also: Maritime Museum, Rector’s Palace, Archaeological exhibitions, House of Marin Držić, Dubrovnik Natural History Museum, Gallery Dulčić Masle Pulitika, Museum of Modern Art
- The ticket is valid for 7 days and for one visit of each museum.
- To visit the upper floors, you need to climb the stairs. There is no elevator.
From the museum
