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Dubrovnik Tourist Board
© Raguž Lučić
Religious sites

Church of St Roch

„May peace be with you. Remember that you who play the ball will eventually die! "

This unusual graphite in the Latin language, carved on the eastern wall of the plain Church of St Roch, testifies to the children's prank that has been going on from 1597 to this day. Nowadays you can still see the panting little boys running after the ball in Dubrovnik's second widest street after Stradun called Od Domina. Several centuries ago the children's play infuriated the unknown author and made him carve the warning about the short playful life and inevitability of death on the church wall. The present-day residents of the City probably remember the inscription at least once, while the sound of the ball hitting the wall disturbs their afternoon rest and peace.

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