Tvrđava Lovrjenac / Lovrjenac Fortress

This guide to Lovrjenac Fortress in Dubrovnik points out its lopsided design first: nearly twelve meters of stone facing the sea, and barely sixty centimeters facing the city itself, a choice the republic's merchants and nobles made on purpose. You'll hear why, and how the fortress commander was handed the post for a single month at a time so no one could hold the position long enough to turn it against the city. It also traces the old Chronicles of Ragusa and their story of a fortress supposedly thrown up in about three months flat to beat Venice to the rock. Look for the Latin motto carved above the gate as you pass beneath it.