Revelin Fortress

The Republic of Ragusa built this fortress for one reason: they were terrified of the Venetians. In 1462, with Venice threatening from the sea and the Ottomans pressing from the land, the Senate ordered the construction of a detached fortress east of the Ploče Gate to protect the most vulnerable approach to the city. The name itself gives away the function — revelin comes from the Italian rivelino, a military term for a defensive structure built opposite a gate.

The fortress took nearly a century to complete in its final form, with major works continuing into the 16th century. During construction, it was considered so important that the Senate decreed all other building projects in the city must stop until Revelin was finished. Every available mason, labourer, and cart was redirected to the project. The Republic understood that an unfinished fortress was the same as no fortress at all.

After the catastrophic earthquake of 1667, the Republic used Revelin's vaulted interior as an emergency storehouse for the city's most valuable treasures, including the archives and the treasury of the Cathedral. The fortress had survived the quake virtually undamaged — proof that Michelozzo's engineering had been worth the investment. While palaces, churches, and homes crumbled around it, Revelin stood firm, protecting the Republic's most irreplaceable assets.

Today the fortress has one of the more unusual second acts in European military architecture: its cavernous interior now hosts Culture Club Revelin, one of the most popular nightclubs in Croatia. The venue hosts international DJs and events beneath the same stone vaults that once stored gunpowder and gold. Dancing under a 16th-century fortress ceiling is, admittedly, a more enjoyable use of the space.