Duke’s / Proveditor’s Palace

The Duke’s or Proveditor’s Palace in Kotor is a building of modest and simple architecture. It acquired this name because it served as the seat of the town’s dukes, i.e. proveditors, at one time. During the Venetian rule in the Bay the dukes were appointed by Venice. Originally, the palace of Kotor’s dukes had been situated on St. Tryphon’s Square. However, in the earthquake of 1667 the palace was completely destroyed and the duke Alvise Foscarini and his whole family died in the event.

Following 1667 the dukes of Kotor moved to a new residence in the building now called the Duke’s Palace. The building had that function until 1788 when it was converted into a barracks. The palace has an elongated form. It adjoins the town walls and the main town gate and occupies the whole western side of the main square called Weapons Square. We have more information about the palace from the period after it was converted into the barracks, when it had rooms for guards and warehouses for public use on the ground floor, and dormitories for soldiers on the first and second floors.

Some 19th century drawings and photographs from the end of the same century show the Duke’s Palace with a wooden balcony with eaves, supported by Renaissance stone brackets on the second floor. The balcony used to stretch along the whole length of the palace. Today, a 55 metre long balcony made of reinforced concrete replaces the old wooden one.

Source: Martinović Jovan, Sto kotorskih dragulja, Rijeka Crnojevića, 1995.