- The Republic of Ragusa was an aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik.
- It was never involved in war, instead it relied on diplomacy and preserved its freedom.
- One of the oldest working pharmacies in the world today is in the Franciscan Monastery in the Old City, founded in 1317.
- It brought in a law banning trade slavery in 1416.
- The official spoken language in the Republic was Latin until 1472
- The Republic of Ragusa was among first European states to recognize the government of the United States in 1776.
- The Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) was at its pick in mid-sixteenth century second maritime power in the Mediterranean and third in Europe, after Venice and Nederland. The Republic was represented with forty-four consuls in different ports.
- The Statute of Dubrovnik was promulgated in the year 1272. The seventh book of the Statute contains exclusively regulations concerning Maritime Law, which is the oldest such document in the world.
- One of Dubrovnik’s most famous landmarks, the Great Onofrio Fountain was built in 1438 as part of a water-supply system that involved bringing water from a spring 11 km away.
- Dubrovnik’s 1395 Insurance Law is the oldest in Europe. It had all aspects of contemporary maritime insurance. This law is three centuries older than Lloyd’s insurance, London, which dates from the end of 17th century.
- The Ragusan perpera was a type of silver coin issued and used in the Republic of Ragusa.
- Saint Blaise is Dubrovnik’s patron saint, who according to legend, helped the people of Dubrovnik defend their town against attacking Venetian forces in the year 972.
- Dubrovnik’s walls measure 2 km around but the thickness varies according to where the builders perceived threats.
