Klarisa, Dubrovnik

Klarisa is the former convent of Saint Clare, set south of Pile Gate on Pasko Miličević Square. Among Dubrovnik’s 8 women’s monasteries, it is the best known. Its buildings grew between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, and the convent became an important religious institution in the Republic of Ragusa.

In 1432, part of it became a home for abandoned children: they were cared for until age 6, then taken in by families. That institution was among the earliest of its kind anywhere in the world. In 1620, a nun named Agneza Beneša set the convent alight and was imprisoned inside its grounds, though she later escaped.

The 1667 earthquake severely damaged the complex and killed two-thirds of its nuns. Later, French rule turned it into stables and an ammunition store; after World War II, it became a restaurant and summer cinema.