The name of the most important Dalmatian town, "Split", comes from the Latin word "palatium", according to some experts. Though, all of them do not agree and certain affirm that the origin of that name is "Aspalathos", the Greek appellation for broom, a very common plant in the country around Split.
But what is absolutely sure, beyond these controversies, is that this beautiful little Mediterranean town that was called Spalato, Spalatro, Spljet and now Split, is born inside and around the palace of a great Roman Emperor, Diocletian. Or, more exactly, inside a huge fortress surrounding a luxury private villa with an atrium, a vestibule, a peristyle, a mausoleum ...
But what is absolutely sure, beyond these controversies, is that this beautiful little Mediterranean town that was called Spalato, Spalatro, Spljet and now Split, is born inside and around the palace of a great Roman Emperor, Diocletian. Or, more exactly, inside a huge fortress surrounding a luxury private villa with an atrium, a vestibule, a peristyle, a mausoleum ...
Split Downtown Inside The Diocletian Palace From The Sea
With two mains streets, four large towers at the four corners and four gates (Golden on the north, Silver on the east, Iron on the west and Brass on the south). Diocletian, who was born in a village near Salona, (today Solin, a few miles from Split), the capital of the Roman Province of Dalmatia, built this amazing property at the beginning of the fourth century, when he decided to resign (the 1may of 305 AD) after twenty years of reign, a record for those times.
How It Was!
The North Gate
When you arrive in Split by the sea, you have in front of you the "riva", the sea front that is, in fact, the facade of the palace. Nothing to do with the ancient ruins that you can find in so many places around the Mediterranean sea! On the "riva" the walls, the windows, the columns and the arcades of the old palace are completely integrated in normal houses where people live, in shops, cafés or restaurants.
Aerial View Of The Old Town Inside The Palace Walls
All the experts agree that the Diocletian's palace in Split is one of the best preserved Roman antiquity. Perhaps even the best one, thanks to that complete integration in the every days life, since long centuries.
Narrow Street Inside The Palace
Split Cathedral - Sveti Duje
A Sphinx In The Peristylium
In the seventh century, the palace was an extraordinary refuge for the Romanised population who lived in the surroundings and tried to escape at the violence of the new invaders: the Avars and the Croats. For centuries, the Diocletian palace was forgotten by the world. Until the publishing, in 1764, of the book "Ruins of the palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia" of the Scottish neo-classical architect Robert Adam that was, like two French artists, Charles Louis Clérisseau and, a few years later, Louis François Cassas, very impressed by the Diocletian Palace that inspired him some buildings on the Thames in London.
The Diocletian Palace (that means the whole centre of Split) who is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 became a television set for the fourth and the fifth season (2014-2015) of the famous American television series "Games of Throne". Daenaris kept her dragons in a perfect place: the Diocletian Palace cellars!
The Diocletian Palace (that means the whole centre of Split) who is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 became a television set for the fourth and the fifth season (2014-2015) of the famous American television series "Games of Throne". Daenaris kept her dragons in a perfect place: the Diocletian Palace cellars!
The Peristylium
The Cellars
