Split

  

As we cruise into port Garrett and I are on the balcony looking at the mountainous Croatian coastline. We can see abandoned stone walls crisscrossing the land all along the coast. Ancient maybe? A little church with a red roof and a white cross on a island no bigger than 1200 square feet passes by the ship. Little sailboats come sneak by the ship in the little channel between us and shore.  Now we’re much closer to shore and we can make out very clearly the stone walls that partition the land for miles and miles around the city that once was Emperor Diocletian’s birth place and escape from Rome. Smaller white clusters of more modern euro style beach homes dot the shore from time to time but it seems like this area is far less populated today than what is suggested by the Roman gate remains. Now we pass by the city of Trogir at a bit of a distance. Little limestone hills create uninhabited islands of scrub brush in the bay. It makes me wonder what Venetian, Roman, Greek, Persian, and Macedonian ships have woven through them over the years. 

View from the balcony of the ship approaching Croatia. Little churches on tiny islands and old rock fences for miles.

Exploring old town.

 Now we’re back from our day in Split and I would give this city the highest of ratings. It was truly spectacular. It had the medieval narrow streets and hodgepodge city layout of Venice but with the added charm of the Adriatic white stone walls, and most of all, Roman ruins underneath and throughout it all. If you haven’t read about or seen Split it’s a hard place to imagine by description. It’s Roman Emperor Diocletian's palace, with years on years of Byzantine, medieval, Venetian, Hapsburg influence, and even later add-ons and take downs. Every street corner was built in a different century. It’s a visual treat everywhere you look. We started out off the ship by heading to a nearby mountain on the Marjan peninsula and hiking to the top to get a view of the entire peninsula of Split on both sides, and an aerial view of old town. It was a great way to get an idea of Croatian landscape. After we wound back down through the light stone alleys to the palace and did a Rick Steves walk through on that one as well, pausing many times to explore every back alley and corner room in the palace, which is more the size of a citadel really. An entire town is built inside the walls of what once was the palace. Diocletian's mausoleum was the best preserved part of it with the most perfectly intact Corinthian columns and bas reliefs on the ceiling from the Roman era that I’ve ever seen in all of Italy and the rest of Europe. The ceiling of the temple of Jupiter was the most intact of its kind as well. The rest of the town however, could not be described as intact. Years of medieval and even modern build on shops and apartments have really made it hard to pick out the original structure with all the bricked in windows and covered up facades. They haven’t even excavated most of the Roman basements because it would collapse the mess of houses on top. The whole mix is a confusing attraction and annoyance at the same time. I can’t tell if I’m mad that the newer buildings would desecrate something as flawless as the original marble Roman structure, or if it’s value is in it’s uniqueness as the most diverse and quirky concoction of history ever thrown together. It’s really just both at the same time. 

The palace front.

The toe that grants a wish.

A little tiny cathedral that was built in between the inner and outer part of the palace walls, run by a lone, very kind nun who let us in as she was closing up for the day.

At the top of the Venetian bell tower.

The bay view with the Marjan Penninsula in the background.

One of the most famous and historically significant sets of doors in the world. It depicts the life of Jesus Christ, and his ministry.

In Diocletian's peristyle. The 4 indents in the corners held statues of the 4 rulers of Rome in that time.

Looking down into the unfinished palace excavations.

The bougainvillea in Croatia absolutely killed me. And I want this stone look for a hearth or house exterior some day.

The original entrance to Diocletian's palace, covered by windows original and dug out throughout hundreds of years.

Diocletian's entryway.

The basement of Diocletian's palace excavated.

Backstreets to the trailhead.

View of Split from the top of Marjan hill.

Church of St. Nicolas on Marjan hill.

View of Split halfway up the Marjan Penninsula hike.

  

   The Riva walk, the 4 different huge Roman gates, the tiny restaurants seating people among the ruins, the Croatians sitting to rest on priceless Roman plinths scattered on the floor of the town, the little Dominican nun that let us into her tiny church carved out in the wall of the palace as she was closing, and the Jewish Rabbi that opened the door to his back alley 500 year old synagogue and chatted with us, all came together to make Split a once in a lifetime experience. It’s still too much to take in. Who would have thought this somewhat unheard of corner of Europe could add up to a day like today.