This somewhat warped picture shows perhaps the most significant secular buildings on the Dalmatian coast -- the Rector's Palace. Architecture here is the inverse of history: the lower floor has a Renaissance loggia supporting beautiful Gothic windows above. The wide areas on each side of the loggia were once the base for towers -- both of which were damaged when the place suffered a fire and explosion 11 years after it was built -- to replace an earlier fortress destroyed by an ammunition explosion. Two major earthquakes also took their toll and the rebuilding of this once-Gothic building cleverly harmonizes Renaissance and Baroque elements as well.This should be called the Rector's Prison as whichever noble was serving the 30-day term could not leave the building except for official business. Each night the keys to the locked gates were brought here and turned over to him in a pompous ceremony.
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