Diocletian Palace Split Croatia

One of the highlights of visiting Split is touring the ancient Roman palace of Diocletian.

When entering through the gate on the city side of the palace, the narrow streets lead to a center plaza.  Stepping into the plaza, my first thought is “Whoa, this is amazing!”

We happily walked through snapping pictures.  Everywhere we turned it seemed like a photo opportunity.

This bell tower marks the entrance to the cathedral.  The Diocletian palace was built in the late 3rd century.  But the cathedral is considered new, because it was built in the middle ages, using materials from the Diocletian’s mausoleum that was originally there.

After the Romans abandoned the palace, local residents began using it for safety and housing.  To this day, much of the interior is owned privately by locals who pass it down from generation to generation.

There is a wide variety of architectural styles inside the palace.

Diocletian’s palace has an extensive network of substructures that were originally built to raise and support the upper levels.  At the time of the Romans these were kept empty.  Now these substructures are filled with small shops.  It is just amazing what the ancient Roman slaves were able to build, that has really stood the test of time.

The sea side of the palace has a promenade full of tourists, cafes, and shops, with beautiful sea views.  As we walked along, we noticed a stinky sulfur smell and assumed it came from the sea.  But we later found out that this area of Split has natural sulfur baths which are used for bone and joint treatments. 

The sea view from the promenade.

This is the Bishop of Nin.  His statue is outside the golden gate of the fortified palace.  As you walk past you notice that he has a shiny big toe.  We later found out that it is an old legend that rubbing his toe brings good luck.

So as we left the palace that night, we each took a turn rubbing the toe.

There are penny tours (actually 1 Kuna, about $.18) that are fantastic and unbelievably cheap.  The tour is 90 minutes and takes you through the ruins with explanation of the history of the palace.  Our tour guide, Luce, was very nice and knowledgeable.  Notice the bell tower reflected in her glasses.  This tour was like the most fun history lesson.  We would highly recommend it.

 

The picture above depicts how the original fortified palace was laid out.  One gate on each of the four outer walls.

The above photo is the domed ceiling of the entrance to Diocletian’s private quarters.  It was built to impress.  The acoustics in the room are amazing and so it is used by singing groups.

I cannot remember the name of this statue, but I believe that he was a famous soldier who kept the Ottomans from entering the city, and this is supposed to be his actual size.

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and Luie, charmed everyone.  Both he and Summer were fascinated by the history.  Maybe all our travels are turning them into history buffs.