Split, Croatia

Diocletian's Palace Sea Gate

 

Split has turned out to be the surprise of the trip. It is the 3rd busiest passenger port on the Mediterranean, ferries are everywhere. But the surprise is the Palace of Diocletian. He was a Roman army commander, but became the emperor in 284, the last pagan emperor. He came from this region and decided to retire here building this 300,000 square foot palace from 295-305 AD. There are three sections to the palace. In the north two large military barracks were built, in the center were the temples, and in the south were his personal apartments. We entered through the tiny sea gate. This area was excavated in 1956 and so it is well preserved having been filled with rubble, dirt, and waste for many years. Above us are the remains of the apartments. We wandered some of the passages, arriving at what was the vestibule, where we were entertained by about 15 Dalmation singers. Then out into the courtyard with its Egyptian sphinx, 2 chapels from the 15th century and the bell tower above us. The Emperor's Mausoleum has ironically been turned into a Catholic Cathedral of St. Domnius. The first mass was celebrated here in 396. From outside it is an octagon, but inside you have the original ornate columns, frescoes with hunting scenes, and above a dome with a peacock style brick dome. To this has now been added windows, three altars, a pulpit, etc turning the mausoleum into a church. In the entrance way are huge walnut wood carved doors, the inspiration for the baptistery in Florence. Across the way we visited what was the Temple of Jupiter, now the baptistery with a statue of John the Baptist and a cross shaped baptistery. We exited the complex by the North gate which had a long self-supporting cross beam, a wonder in itself. Outside was a statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin (900 AD), who was killed for suggesting that mass be celebrated in Croatian. As we walked around the outside we came to the municipal square. Most of the buildings within the palace are Venetian style made of limestone, but the Roman walls remain with the buildings built up against the wall. A magnificently well preserved palace.

In the afternoon, we had a pleasant time visiting the tiny village of Omis, which used to be controlled by pirates. They would hide their ships up the River Cetina and watch for merchant ships from the tower high on the hill. We had a pleasant boat ride down the river, had some bread with olive oil, and walnut brandy as a picnic, and then got a magnificient view of the canyon on our return to Split. 

Canyon of River Cetina