Minceta Tower

The Minčeta Tower anchors the northwest corner of Dubrovnik's city walls, and it's the one most people recognize first — round, crowned with battlements, sitting above everything else in the Old Town.

It didn't start out looking like that. The original fort here was built in 1319 by a local builder, Nicifor Ranjina, on land belonging to the Menčetić family, which is where the name comes from. In 1461, with the Ottoman threat growing, the Republic of Ragusa brought in the Florentine architect Michelozzo to redesign the city's defenses. He turned the old square fort into a round bastion with walls up to 6 meters thick and gun ports built into the curve — a shape that deflects cannon fire far better than flat walls do. Michelozzo left before the job was finished, after a falling-out with the city over his plans for the Rector's Palace, and the tower was completed in 1464 by another architect of the period, Juraj Dalmatinac, who added its Gothic crown.

Climb to the top today and the reward is the best panoramic view of the Old Town's rooftops and the Adriatic beyond, which is why it's one of the most photographed spots on the walls. There's a small museum in the tower's excavated basement, and the nearest way in from outside the walls is through the Pile Gate.

Seen from below, the tower is even more striking, which is part of why so many people end up exploring the coast by boat from Dubrovnik for a different angle on the walls.