In the east part of Dubrovnik, close to the walls, is the large architectural complex of the Dominican monastery. This area is one of the most important architectural complexes of Dubrovnik and major treasury of cultural and art heritage in Dubrovnik.

The Dominicans established their monastery in Dubrovnik as early as 1225, but the building of the church and the monastery took much longer, so the church and the monastery building were completed in the 14th century.

The place that the Dominicans chose for their monastery was strategically one of the most sensitive points in the defense of the city, so that as early as the 14th century the whole complex came was included within city walls, becoming their part. The church is one of the largest Gothic buildings on the east Adriatic coast.

The monastery complex acquired its final shape in the 15th century, when the vestry, the chapter house and the cloister were added. The beautiful porches of the cloister were built between 1456 and 1483. They were built by the local builders: Utišenović, Grubačević, Radmanović and others from the designs of the Florentine architect Massa di Bartolomeo. The vestry was built in 1485 by the famous Dubrovnik architect Paskoje Miličević. The south portal is Romanesque and in 1419 was surrounded by a Gothic arch on columns. 

Although the complex of the Dominican Monastery has in some of its elements different style characteristics, from the Romanesque to the Baroque, it is a harmonious and logical architectural unit, but nevertheless predominantly Gothic and early Renaissance. 

The bell-towers was started by the architect Checo of Monopoli in the 16th century, but it was finished only in the 18th century. The base of the bell tower is also Romanesque. On the upper floor are late-Gothic biforae, while the cupola is Baroque.  When Napoleon occupied Ragusa (Republic of Dubrovnik),the church was used to stable horses! Their eating troughs are still visible between the pillars of the cloister.

A special treasure of this monastery is its library with over 220 incunables, numerous illustrated manuscripts, and rich archive with precious manuscripts and documents. The art collection is very rich, and the best painting of Dubrovnik school 15th-16th centuries have a special place among them-works by Nikola Božidarević, Lovro Dobričević and Mihajlo Hamzić.