The Lazzarettos is a group of interconnected buildings located 300 meters away from the walls of Dubrovnik that were once used as a quarantine station for the Republic of Ragusa.
Republic of Ragusa was an active merchant city-state and was thus in a contact with people and goods from all over the world so it had to introduce preventive health measures to protect its citizens from various epidemics which broke out in countries across the Mediterranean and the Balkans due to poor hygiene. The time period between the 14th and 18th centuries was known as the most difficult time of plague and cholera epidemics in Europe and Asia. Given that the preparations for the treatment of various infectious diseases recommended by the doctors at the time, such as vinegar, sulfur, and garlic, were ineffective, people came up with the idea of stopping epidemics from spreading by isolating the infected.
In the 15th century, the quarantine facilities were moved from uninhabited islands of Mrkan, Bobara and Supetar closer to the city because the Ottoman Empire could have used them as a base for the attack on the city. Construction of a large lazaretto on Lokrum started in 1533, and was completed at the end of the 16th century. In 1590, the government started with the construction of the lazaretto in Ploče. The constriction was completed in 1642. It contained 10 multistory buildings connected by 5 interior courtyards. This lazaretto had five areas and five residential buildings for passengers who had to go through quarantine. From each side of the area where the houses for people were, there were the towers for the guards and the apartment for the Ottoman envoy who acted as a judge for Ottoman subjects who were visiting Dubrovnik.
With the construction of the lazarettos, epidemics were significantly suppressed with last breaking out in 1815-16. After the fall of the Republic in 1808, lazarettos were used for quarantine of merchants coming to Dubrovnik from the inner-Balkans, and later for military purposes. Lazarettos were damaged by fire in the second half of the 19th century and again at the end of the First World War. Following the first renovation, the arcades in the courtyards and the gates facing the sea were bricked up.
Today, the Lazarettos are used for recreation, trade, and entertainment.
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