The cursed, peacock-strewn island a stone's throw from the walls
Lokrum sits 600 metres off the Dubrovnik coast — close enough that on a still morning you can hear the bells of the Old Town across the water. The whole island, 72 hectares of it, has been a Special Reserve of Forest Vegetation since 1948 — the third oldest protected nature area in Croatia and part of Dubrovnik's UNESCO World Heritage site. Roughly nine-tenths of Lokrum is dense Mediterranean forest; the rest is paths, ruins, gardens and a single salt-water lake called Mrtvo More.
Benedictine monks settled here around 915 AD and built a monastery first mentioned in writing in 1023 — the very first Benedictine house of the Dubrovnik Republic, and for centuries the spiritual and economic engine of the whole island. The Roman Curia granted the abbots the mitre in 1149, placing them just behind the archbishop of Dubrovnik. The three-nave Romanesque-Gothic basilica still stands, as does the cloister with its Latin inscription 'CONCORDIA RES PARVAE CRESCUNT' — harmony makes small things grow.
Local lore says that when the monks were finally forced off the island in 1808 they walked the cloister at night with inverted candles, cursing every future owner of Lokrum. The list of subsequent tragedies is hard to ignore: Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, who bought the island in 1858 and built a neo-Renaissance summer villa and botanical garden, was executed in Mexico nine years later; the same Habsburg generation lost Empress Sisi to assassination and Crown Prince Rudolf to suicide. Fort Royal, the French Napoleonic castle on the island's 96-metre summit, watches over all of it.
More recently, Lokrum found a second life on screen. The Game of Thrones production used it for the city of Qarth — Daenerys's garden party at the home of Xaro Xhoan Daxos was filmed in Maximilian's botanical garden in season two, and the island's peacocks supposedly inspired the golden Qarth ornaments. A replica of the Iron Throne, donated to Croatia by HBO after the series wrapped, now sits in a small visitor centre inside the old monastery — free to sit on and free to photograph.
Shaded gravel paths loop the island under holm oak and Aleppo pine. Peacocks introduced by Maximilian still patrol the gardens and ruins; the air is full of cicadas, lemons and resin. A slow circuit takes around ninety minutes at a relaxed pace.
A small salt-water lake connected to the open sea by a hidden underwater tunnel. The water is calm, shallow and noticeably warmer than the surrounding Adriatic, which makes it a favourite swim spot even for guests who prefer easier water than the open coast.
The 12th-century Benedictine monastery, with its three-nave Romanesque basilica and arched cloister, still anchors the centre of the island. Maximilian's botanical garden of palms, agave and citrus weaves between the ruins — one of the oldest gardens of its kind on the Adriatic.
Game of Thrones fans will recognise the gardens and cloister from Daenerys's stay in Qarth. The Iron Throne replica, donated to Croatia by HBO after the series wrapped, sits in the visitor centre inside the old monastery — free to sit on and free to photograph.
Most guests spend between one and two hours on land — enough for a swim in Mrtvo More, a walk through the botanical gardens and a photo on the Iron Throne. Longer stays pair well with our Lokrum & Betina Cave half-day tour.
Yes — Lokrum is a paid nature reserve. The ticket covers the monastery, gardens, Fort Royal and the Game of Thrones visitor centre. Tickets are bought at the kiosk by the harbour on arrival.
Yes. The replica was donated to Croatia by HBO after Game of Thrones finished, and it now sits in a small exhibition inside the former Benedictine monastery. Sitting on it and photographing it is free.
Very. Mrtvo More is calm, shallow and warmer than the open sea, and there are rocky beach access points around the island's edge. The water around Lokrum is among the clearest you'll find this close to Dubrovnik.
Private speedboat tours from Dubrovnik that include a stop at Lokrum Island.
