The ''Collegium Ragusinum'', sometimes also ''Rhagusinum'', was the
Jesuit college
The Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in the Catholic Church have founded and managed a number of educational institutions, including the notable secondary schools, colleges, and university, universities listed here.
Some of these universities are in t ...
in the
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa, or the Republic of Dubrovnik, was an maritime republics, aristocratic maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik (''Ragusa'' in Italian and Latin; ''Raguxa'' in Venetian) in South Dalmatia (today in southernmost ...
, now the city of
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
in
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
. Following early Jesuit presence in Ragusa in the late 1550s, the college was established in 1658 and closed in 1773 with the
suppression of the Society of Jesus
The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...
. Its preserved church is dedicated to
Saint Ignatius, and the other buildings now host a Catholic
gymnasium and other Church facilities. The complex has been referred to as "considered to be the finest Baroque set of buildings in Dubrovnik, and - according to many - in all of Dalmatia."
Location

The college complex occupies a prominent location on the southern side of the Old City of Dubrovnik, with the seaside
Walls of Dubrovnik
The Walls of Dubrovnik () are a series of defensive wall, defensive stone walls surrounding the city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia."''...city's founding before the 7th century as a Byzantine castrum on a rocky island named Laus...''" The 7th ...
to its immediate south. It is connected to the central Gundulić Square by a monumental stairway known as the Jesuit stairs (, ). The college buildings and church are arranged around a square that was known as Jesuit Square () until 1930 and was then renamed Boscovich Square () in honor of the former college's most famous alumnus,
Roger Joseph Boscovich
Roger Joseph Boscovich (, ; ; ; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa.[Nicholas Bobadilla
Nicholas Bobadilla, SJ (c.1509 – 23 September 1590) was one of the first Jesuits. A native of Spain, he spent most of his career in Germany.
Biography
Nicholas Bobadilla was born in Spain in about 1509 and was educated at Alcalá de Henare ...]
, an early companion of
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...
, arrived in Ragusa in 1558 and stayed there for two years.
It took about a century, however, to transform this early effort into a permanent establishment. This was in part because Ragusan attitudes to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
were less unfavorable than the combative anti-Ottoman stance of the Jesuit order, a gap that was gradually reduced in the course the 17th century. More prosaic issues of land ownership also played a role in the delays.
[ The college was eventually established in 1658 thanks to a prior gift of local philosopher and theologian Marin Gundulić of the prominent Gundulić family, who had died in 1647.
The devastating ]1667 Dubrovnik earthquake
The 1667 Dubrovnik earthquake was one of the three most devastating earthquakes to hit what is now modern Croatia in the last 2,400 years, since records began. The entire city was almost destroyed and around 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed. The ...
ruined the fledgling college and killed many of its students. The current complex was then built on plans by Jesuit architect and artist Andrea Pozzo
Andrea Pozzo (; Latinized version: ''Andreas Puteus''; 30 November 1642 – 31 August 1709) was an Italian Jesuit brother, Baroque painter, architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician.
Pozzo was best known for his grandiose fresc ...
(1642–1709), then renowned for his prior work at the Roman church of Saint Ignatius. The church's construction was started in 1699 and completed in 1725.[ A sculpted plaque dated 1481 showing angels holding a medieval YHS ]christogram
A Christogram () is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbolism, religious symbol within the Christian Church.
One of the oldest Christograms is the C ...
above a Latin inscription, was placed prominently at the base of the staircase leading to the College's entrance. It almost certainly comes from a religious building destroyed in the 1667 earthquake and viewed as a precursor of Jesuit iconography,[ possibly the church of Saint Lucia that used to stand on the location of the Jesuit steps.][
In the 1730s, Roman architect of Sicilian descent (1690–1748), also architect of the facades of ]Santa Croce in Gerusalemme
The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme () is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.
According to Christia ...
and Santa Maria Annunziata in Borgo
Santa Maria Annunziata in Borgo, popularly known as Nunziatina (or Annunziatina), is an Oratory (worship), oratory of Rome (Italy), in the Rioni of Rome, rione Borgo (rione of Rome), Borgo, facing on Lungotevere Vaticano.
History
The church of S. ...
in Rome, led a renovation of the college and built the so-called Jesuit stairs that connect it to the nearby Gundulić Square, with explicit echoes of the Roman Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps () in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top.
The monumental stairway of 135 steps is linked with the Trinit� ...
that had been created a decade earlier by Francesco de Sanctis
Francesco de Sanctis (28 March 1817 – 29 December 1883) was an Italian literary critic, scholar and politician, leading critic and historian of Italian language and literature during the 19th century.
Biography
De Sanctis was born in the so ...
. At the same time, painter Gaetano Garcia decorated the church's apse with frescoes celebrating Saint Ignatius.
Aftermath
After the Suppression of the Society of Jesus
The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...
in 1773, the college became an educational institution under the local clergy, under the name ''Collegium Rhagusinum''. That name in 1778 replaced the previous inscription ''Collegium Societatis Iesu'' at the top of the Jesuit stairs, with the date inscribed there (MDCCLXXV, for 1775 - now partly damaged) left unchanged. The school was later run by Piarists
The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...
until 1868, was later a military hospital, then a Catholic seminary, until the creation in 1941 of the current secondary institution, the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium "Ruđer Bošković". The gymnasium has been referred to as "the best high school in Dubrovnik." The building now also houses the Diocesan
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
of Dubrovnik ().
The University of Dubrovnik also traces its origins partly to the college. Its first logo, adopted in 2003, included a picture of the Jesuit stairs.
In popular culture
The college's buildings and church have regularly served as background stages for theatrical performances during the Dubrovnik Summer Festival
The Dubrovnik Summer Festival (; ) is an annually-held summer festival instituted in 1950 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is held every year between 10 July and 25 August.
On more than 70 open-air venues of Renaissance-Baroque city of Dubrovnik a rich ...
.[
The Jesuit steps have been used as stage for the "walk of atonement" performed by Cersei Lannister in the final episode (" Mother's Mercy") of the fifth season of '']Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...
''.[
]
Alumni
* Roger Joseph Boscovich
Roger Joseph Boscovich (, ; ; ; 18 May 1711 – 13 February 1787) was a Croatian physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, theologian, Jesuit priest, and a polymath from the Republic of Ragusa.[Lourdes grotto
A Lourdes grotto is a replica of the grotto where the Lourdes apparitions occurred in 1858, in the town of Lourdes in France, now part of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. Some Lourdes grottos are almost identical reproductions of the scene o ...]
added in 1885
File:Portal Collegium Ragusinum.jpg, Entrance portal to the college, with reused 15th-century relief in foreground
File:Dubrovnik, scalinata dei gesuiti, 02.JPG, "Jesuit stairs" leading up to the college, completed in 1738
File:Inscription Collegium Rhagusinum.jpg, Inscription "COLLEGIUM RHAGUSINUM MDCCLXXV" at the top of the Jesuit steps
See also
* Rijeka Cathedral
The St. Vitus Cathedral (, Italian: ''Cattedrale di San Vito'') is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Rijeka, Croatia.
In the Middle Ages, the Church of St. Vitus was a small and one-sided, Romanesque church dedicated to the patron saint and prote ...
* Jesuit Classical Gymnasium in Osijek
Jesuit Classical Gymnasium with right of public () is a Private school, private Catholic school, Catholic Gymnasium (school), gymnasium secondary school, located in Tvrđa, the historic core of Osijek, Croatia. The school was founded in 1998 by t ...
* List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have be ...
Notes
{{coord missing, Croatia
Buildings and structures in Dubrovnik
Former universities and colleges of Jesuits
Baroque palaces in Croatia
Republic of Ragusa