The Rector’s Palace was the centre of government and the official residence of the rector of the Dubrovnik Republic. This Gothic-Renaissance palace was put up in the first half of the 15th century on the remains of the medieval fort called the castellum. It was built to a design of Neapolitan architect Onofrio di Giordano della Cava, as a three storey building with four wings, with corner towers, an inner court and a portico on the front elevation. During the centuries, the palace’s fabric underwent a good deal of serious damage from gunpowder explosions and tectonic events, most of all during the catastrophic earthquake of 1667. Numerous repairs and renovations brought in new styles, but there was always an endeavour to retain the basic characteristics of the Onofrio design. As it is today, the Rector’s Palace is a two-storey building, with portico and atrium, in which the Gothic-Renaissance form is skilfully blended with the Baroque interventions.
Cultural History Museum is housed in the Rector’s Palace. The permanent display has been in part handled environmentally and most of all presents the artistic and historical heritage of the last period of the Dubrovnik Republic. It also conjures up the authentic space of historical events, representing the state offices, the court room and the jail on the ground floor, the chapel, the reception rooms and the rector’s own apartment with his study, the central space and bedroom on the first floor.
The exhibitions Dubrovnik coins, medals, seals, coats of arms and measures, Armoury, Goldsmithing in Dubrovnik and Inventory of Domus Christi, the state apothecary presented in the mezzanine rooms supplement the themes handled in the permanent display.