Ducal Palace

In 1465, the government of the Republic of Dubrovnik built the so-called “Knežev dvor” (Ducal Palace), with the Republic’s Coat of Arms and the statue of its patron saint -- St. Blaise, on its facade. Beside the administrator’s office and his living quarters, the building also contained a prison cell, an armory and a storage room.

The same year the government formed an administrative area called “Janjinska Kapetanija” [Captainate of Janjina], through which it exercised its administrative and judicial authority. In recent times, historians have been saying that Janjina was never the centre of the administrative area called “Knežija” and therefore never was the seat of a “Knez” [Duke].

According to the laws of the Republic of Dubrovnik, only the area around the town of Ston formed a “Knežija”. It seems that the rest of Pelješac, was administratively divided into two Captainates, one of Janjina and the other of Trstenica (todays Orebić).