Split

The most beautiful city on the Mediterranean – this is how for many decades now this city has been described by its visitors who are always impressed by the old town, which, according to many, looks like the scenes of epic historical films.

The story of Split is already 17 centuries old, dating to the time the Roman Emperor Diocletian decided to build his Palace right on the peninsula near the great Roman city of Salona, where he wanted to spend the last years of his life. During these 1700 years, the Palace slowly turned into a city, which to this day lures with its rich tradition, glorious history, and beauty of its natural and cultural heritage. 

Diocletian Palace and the entire historical core of Split have been on the World Heritage UNESCO list ever since 1979, not only for the extraordinary preservation of the Palace but also because of the Palace and its city (or the city and its Palace, if you like) continue to live a full life. All historical layers from old Rome, the middle ages till today are still visible and alive in this structure. A walk through the ancient city takes you through time, along with the great examples of ancient architecture like Peristyle, the middle-aged Romanesque Church and Gothic Palace, Renaissance portals of the noblemen’s houses, Baroque facades, and modern architecture superbly merged in the rich heritage. 

Such stratification is mirrored in the everyday life of Split. Local inhabitants sit in the same cafes, and restaurants, and shop in the same stores as tourists, giving them the impression that, by arriving at Split, they became a part of the city. The vegetable market and the fish market represent the center of each family’s life in Split, just as the entire social life of this city of 200 thousand reflects on the Riva (waterfront), where every guest should endeavor to have his coffee alongside noisy, temperamental folk of Split. 

Split is much more than glorious architectural scenery. Split is also a venue for excellent gourmet and vine experiences, numerous cultural happenings like film and theatre festivals, exhibitions, excellent museums, and concerts, a city that offers eclectic modes of entertainment starting with numerous clubs and bars, through street festivals to events such as Ultra Europe Festival visited each year by up to 100 thousand young people from around one hundred countries of the world. Split with its sports results is something only a handful of cities of similar size around the world can boast about as it is the home of a dozen Olympic medal winners as well as other sports medals.

When you tire of the city bustle, there’s Marjan, a hill symbol over the city, with its forest, jogging trails, mountain climbing and biking, recreational terrains, but also the ancient churches where the late citizens of Split sought spiritual peace. Also very unusual to find in a city the size of Split are the numerous beaches with extraordinarily clean sea, from the well-known Bačvice to the stone-secluded oases’ all around Marjan. 

After all, that’s said are you at all surprised that citizens of Split have a saying "There is no place like Split”?

Geographical position

Split lies on the Adriatic coast, central Dalmatia, on the Split (Marjan) peninsula. Although surrounded by sea as a peninsula, Split also borders surrounding mountains, Mosor on the northeast, Kozjak on the northwest, and Marjan hill as one of the most important symbols of the city, rising on the west side of the peninsula, in the immediate vicinity of the old city center.  Split is also surrounded by the islands Brač, Hvar, Šolta, and Čiovo. Split is the largest city in Dalmatia, a second, city in Croatia, and according to the latest census conducted in 2011 Split has almost 180 thousand inhabitants. Second largest Croatian cargo harbor, but also one of the largest passenger harbors on the Mediterranean. It is the administrative center of Split & Dalmatia County.

Climate

Split has a Mediterranean climate, characterized by dry and very hot summers and cool, but moderate and humid winters. The average temperature of the warmest month of the year is 22°C and the coldest is 4°C.

The History of Split

The history of Split is over-flowingly rich and turbulent to fit in just a couple of sentences. Although the Split area was earlier inhabited by the Greek colonies, Emperor Diocletian should be considered it's first citizen and founder, started his lavish villa of around 300 square meters near the great city of Salona in 293 AD, only to retire from the Roman throne within its walls after building it for ten years. Turbulent centuries that followed turned the villa into a city, conceived by the fugitive inhabitants of Salona who fled from the Avars and Slavs. Many authorities changed hands in the city which, in the years to come, grew beyond the Palace walls, from the Croatian Kings in the 10th century, through the Hungarian and Venetian administrations, to the French rulers and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Modern age and the 20th century "moved" Split from the kingdom of Yugoslavia, though tragic, yet heroic times of the Italian and German occupation during the Second World War when Split was one of the centers of anti-fascist resistance, to Socialist Yugoslavia and the present period of the free and independent Croatia, member of the European Union. Tumultuous history leaves its trace in the everyday life of the city that always moved steadily forward, remaining the center best-preserved of this part of the coast to this day. In those mixtures of history layers, clumsiness was inevitable, sometimes even rashness in development, but today it is all a part of its originality. Great city beats today with the silent whisper of history, the lively spirit of youth, and the charm of the Mediterranean yet in every way also Croatian warmth...

Diocletian Palace

Diocletian Palace is one of the best-preserved monuments of Roman architecture in the world. The Emperor's Palace was built as a combination of a luxury villa - a summer house and a Roman military camp (castrum), divided into four parts with two main streets. The southern part of the Palace was, in this scheme, intended for the Emperor's apartment and appropriate governmental and religious ceremonies, while the northern part was for the Imperial guard - the military, servants, storage, etc. The Palace is a rectangular building (approximately 215 x 180 meters) with four large towers at the corners, doors on each of the four sides, and four small towers on the walls. The lower part of the walls has no openings, while the upper floor is open with a monumental porch on the south and halls with grand arch windows on the other three sides. Over the centuries the Palace inhabitants, and later also the citizens of Split adapted parts of the palace for their own requirements, thus the inside buildings, as well as the exterior walls with the towers, significantly changed the original appearance, but the outlines of the Imperial Palace are still very visible.

Among the European cathedrals, the one in Split finds its seat in the oldest building - the Mausoleum of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Inside the cathedral, at the end of the second millennium, the history reconciles ancient pagan, Christian Medieval, and modern heritage. The Mausoleum of the Emperor - persecutor of Christians becomes a cathedral in the 7th century where altars with relics of St Domnius and St Anastasius, martyrs executed in the nearby Solin, take an honorary place. The outer octagon of the mausoleum is enclosed by an aisle (perimeter) formed of 24 columns. In its interior, it has a circular form with four semicircular and four rectangular niches. In the middle stood the Diocletian's sarcophagus, later destroyed. Above the niches rise eight red granite Corinthian pillars, and above them another eight smaller ones. The cornice circling above shows a relief of erotic hunting masks and, human heads. Two medallions with bows are especially interesting as the archaeologists and Split's tradition recognize in them the portraits of Emperor Diocletian and his wife Prisca. Of particular interest is also the construction of the cupola with its fan-like arrangement of bricks in the lower part and a circular arrangement in its upper third. The cupola gleamed with glittering mosaics just like the one in the Vestibule. Cathedral today is primarily a place of liturgy, with a millennium-long continuity, best reflected in the Sunday mass and the renewed splendor of the procession on St Domnius's day - the day of Split's patron saint. The renowned part of the Cathedral is its gates carved in walnut by Andrija Buvina from Split. The two doorposts show fourteen tablets each with scenes from the Gospels, from Gabriel's Annunciation to the Resurrection of Christ.

Cathedral of Saint Domnius

Left of the entrance is a hexagonal pulpit from the 13th century, made of precious green porphyry, once gilded in its entirety. The Altar on the right was dedicated to Salona's Bishop and martyr St Domnius. The altar's ciborium was erected by Bonino da Milano in 1427 in the late Gothic style, while the decoration of frescoes of four evangelists was down to the late Gothic painter Dujam Vušković from Split in 1429. The left side altar of the second patron of Split, the Solin martyr craftsman Anastasius of Aquileia, was made in 1448 by the greatest Croatian architect and sculptor of his time Juraj Dalmatinac. Especially impressive is the central relief on the sarcophagus depicting the Flagellation of Christ, where Dalmatinac shows Christ twisted by torment and pain. The main altar was built from 1685 to 1689. The altar, in the northern niche, with St Domnius's remains from Bonino's altar(since 1770), was built by the Venetian sculptor Morlaiter in 1767. The most important work in the Baroque choir of the Cathedral is the wooden bench rests which originally stood in front of the main altar, carved in the first half of the 13th century. The bell tower of the Cathedral (57m) is the most original Dalmatian Medieval architecture that started in the 13th century. The bell tower was thoroughly reconstructed and somewhat altered at the turn of the 20th century. Today you can climb the steps all the way to the top of the bell tower, where a spectacular view of the entire Split awaits you.

The Golden Gate

Porta septemtrionalis is their Roman name. Emperor Diocletian walked through them as he entered the Palace on the 1st of June 305. They were built in the shape of a rectangle, with double doors, as part of the defensive military tactics (propugnaculum).

The facade was decorated with niches containing figure sculptures of the four tetrarchs (Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius Chlorus). These doors, starting from Peristyle, and then through Cardo street, led directly towards Salona as the capital city of the Roman Province Dalmatia, and could only be used by the emperor and the members of his family. Today they are, together with the nearby monument to the Bishop Gregorius of Nin (Grgur Ninski), the work of a great Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović, one of the favorite Split tourist spots.

Under the influence of Venice, in the 16th century, the gates change their name to Porta Aurea or Golden Gates, and this name stayed with them to this day.

The Silver Gate

Porta Orientalis is their Roman name. These gates were used to enter the palace from the east towards the west, through the main street, decumanus, all the way to the Iron Gate, and to Pjaca, the central city square.

The Silver Gate was more modest in its decorations than the Golden one, and it was closed from the Middle Ages till 1952, only to be thoroughly reconstructed during the destruction of the Baroque church Dušica. On each side of the gate, the remains of the octagonal towers are visible, hence making it easy to imagine the beauty of the construction and the strength of the control over the entrances from the north, east, and west. Entering through those gates passersby, even today, have the opportunity to walk the original ancient pavement on Decumanus, walked also, so many years ago, by the Diocletian's subjects.

Silver Gate has recently enriched its history with the greatest event for all the Split Catholics when in the year 2000 Pope John Paul II passed through them admiring the beauty of St Domniuses Cathedral where he later prayed.

The Iron Gate

Their original, Roman name was PORTA OCCIDENTALIS, and they are one of the four through which life flowed during all 17 centuries of the history of Split. From the very first day that they were opened, they continued to witness all the changes the city went through from the Roman times, through the middle ages till today, all the power and influences, only to welcome, even to this day, with the bells of the Renaissance clock, the city of Split with its citizens. A relief of Nika, the Roman Goddess of Victory stood on the lintel, but already in the fifth century, the Christians carved a cross in its place as their symbol.

In the eleventh century, a small church of Our Lady of the Belfry was built above the door, originally dedicated to St Theodor, with a beautiful early Romanesque bell tower. In the Middle Ages, the area inside the gate was used as a courthouse, and until about fifty years ago an empire of small shops found its place there.

This Theseguard's entire history dynamics is present to this day, with housing construction in the very walls of the gate, bell tower, part of the Roman guards' pathway with a wonderful view of the decumanus and the People's Square (Narodni trg), and also city clock which is of special interest as it has 24 digits instead of the usual 12. By the very door, one of the most beautiful Palaces of the late Split noblemen found its place, belonging to the family Cypriani Benedetti, decorated by two unique six-arch windows.

The Brass Gate

PORTA MERIDIONALIS is their Roman name. The gate which, under some assumptions of the original state of the south facade of the Diocletian palace - the sea mourned, differs completely from the other three. Modest in size, but also different in its function as it leads through the Substructures directly to the sea.

Besides its Renaissance name Aranea - Brass, it also earned the attribute Secure, as it ensured the possibility of a flees by the sea in case of an attack on the Palace from the mainland. With a partial restoration, authentic door blocks indicate to the surprised visitors soon-to-be two-millennium-old water resistance. Today they became the "main" gate as the tourists pass through them most frequently to start their guided tours with local guides and arrive through the Substructures to the central part of the Palace.

Vestibule

From the outside rectangular, and from the inside circular ground plan of this old imperial court, Vestibule leaves a monumental impression even to this day. And how fascinating was it in its original entirety: semicircular niches with statues; a large cupola with colorful glittery mosaic, witnessed by Marko Marulić in his manuscript from the 16th century; the whiteness of the round wall. The vestibule was used to enter the residential part of the palace. But can you imagine that a little over half a century ago it was used for living and that the residents kept poultry there and cultivated gardens?

Southeast of the Vestibule is the medieval part of the city, with the oldest early Romanesque house from the tenth century. It leans on the very Vestibule, and in it today is one of the most beautiful and most awarded Split hotels, conveniently named Vestibule. On the other side of the square, in the former church of St. Andrew built in the seventh century, in the place where the imperial chambers once were, the Ethnographic museum finds its place. Unfortunately, the imperial chambers, have not been preserved, but their Substructures are therefore a faithful replica, making it easy to visualize where were the dining room, kitchen, women's quarters, spa...

Walking along with the remnants of the Cryptoporticus, the imperial walking path takes you to the western chambers dominated by a library, and next to the imperial chambers on the southwest part used to be the Diocletian's spa, today the interior of the Hotel Slavija.

Temple of Jupiter

Eminent Scottish architect Robert Adam considered this temple one of the most beautiful European monuments. Rectangular in its floor plan the temple served to celebrate Jupiter's cult. It lies on an elevated podium, with a six-column porch in front of it. Embossed images on the portal, as well as the barrel coffered vault, influenced the early Renaissance architecture of Andrija Alessi and Nikola Firentinac in Trogir.  The transformation into a Baptistery happened in the Late Antiquity era, with a construction of a crypt under the building dedicated to St Thomas. In the former temple, at the beginning of the 13th century, a Baptismal Font was made of the altar screen pluteus (11th century), originally seated in the cathedral. One of the posts shows a figure of a Croatian king (Petar Krešimir IV or Zvonimir), making it the earliest presentation of a European king on a Medieval stone sculpture. 

The Baptistery today is dominated by a Secession sculpture of St John the Baptist, whose name the temple carried after the transformation, this was the work of Ivan Meštrović, while in front of it one of several completely or partly preserved granite sphinxes was placed that Diocletian brought from Egypt. The Baptistery is open for visitors, with an entrance fee.

Peristyle

Peristyle, as the central square of the Palace, intended for Emperor Diocletian celebrated as the living son of Jupiter, finds its place among many temples. The Emperor would appear under the architrave of the central part of Protyron, and his subjects would approach him, kneeling down, kissing the hem of his scarlet cloak, or they would fall in front of him, their entire body to the ground.

The red color of the granite pillars emphasizes the ceremonial function. Namely, ever since Emperor Diocletian the color purple became the imperial color. With the construction of a new city square with the town hall (Pjaca) in the 13th/14th century, Peristyle became a religious center. Today it borders the West with the Palaces of Split noble families Grisogono, Cipci, and Skočibušić, as they lean on its authentic columns and arches. With their Renaissance and Gothic architecture, they themselves became monuments.

Owing to its unique beauty and unusual acoustics, Peristyle became the ideal theatre, perfect for opera classics and works of ancient literature, but also the stage where abundant urban life continues. Having your coffee on the steps circling Peristyle is a unique experience, one of the closest touches of a modern man with ancient heritage, not only Roman but also Egyptian, as the Peristyle is closely watched over by a 3500-old and perfectly preserved sphinx, the witness of Split's history in making. This is why John Paul II in amazement said " Dear God, how many feet have stepped through here", and this is why citizens of Split think of Peristyle as the center of Split and the entire world.

The Substructures

The Diocletian Palace Substructures represents one of the best-preserved ancient complexes of their kind in the world and hence are in many ways responsible for the reason the historical core of Split was 1979 included on UNESCO'S World Heritage list. In Roman times, their function was to elevate the Emperor's chambers on the floor above, but they were also the storage area for the Palace. Being structurally a faithful replica of the chambers above, they enable a faithful reconstruction of the way the Emperor's chambers looked like. In the early Middle Ages, a part of them was used as a residential area, and in one of the halls, parts of an ancient oil and wine press (turnjačica) were found, remaining exhibited in the same spot to this day. With the residence construction within the Palace, the Substructures were turned into a waste pit for those households built above them. Cleaning of the Substructure's halls was conceived and commenced in the mid-19th century by architect Vicko Andrić, the first Split and Croatian conservationist, and today they have been excavated and reconstructed to the sixties of the last century. Only the eastern part became open for the public relatively recently, in May 1995.  The entrance to the halls of the Substructures today is through Porta Aenea, from the Riva, or down the stairs from the Peristyle. Today the Substructures are full of life. They regularly host painting and sculpture exhibitions, theatre plays, fairs like the International Flower Fair, gastronomic and oenological presentations, and many other social and cultural events. The central hall, representing the main communication line between the Riva and the Peristyle, is a place to buy valuable souvenirs, and the rest of the Substructures is open for sightseeing as one of the greatest attractions of Split, frequently, besides Peristyle, a synonym for Diocletian Palace.