Orlando's Column in Dubrovnik

At the far end of the Stradun, on Luža Square, a stone column carries the carved figure of a medieval knight. It is easy to walk past as one more old monument, but the column was the civic center of the Ragusan Republic.

The knight is Roland, or Orlando, the paladin of Charlemagne and a common medieval symbol of free trade and self-rule. Dubrovnik raised its column in 1418, carved by Bonino of Milan with the local master Antun Dubrovčanin. This was where the republic read its laws and proclamations aloud, announced sentences, and flew the Libertas flag that stood for its independence.

It was also the city's standard for measurement. The length of Orlando's right forearm, the arm that holds the sword, was the official Ragusan cubit of about 51.2 centimeters, and cloth was measured against it. The mark is still cut into the base, and the Libertas flag still goes up at the column to open the Dubrovnik Summer Festival.