Travel writer Claire Mason

Just through the Pile Gate, one of two grand entrances on the western side of Dubrovnik’s old town, is what looks like yet another church. This is no slight; all 17 of the churches within the city walls are beautiful – it’s just that with there being so many, it’s easy to think it doesn’t matter if you give this specific one a miss. But don’t. These bleached white walls actually belong to the city’s Franciscan monastery, built in 1317 by monks whose mission was to heal the sick. To help do this, they set up an apothecary (which also brought the monastery a