Split, It's All About the Palace

You're probably wondering why this picture starts the post rather than a palace one like the title says, but to begin our tour today we did a panoramic drive around Split.  I started with the beach since it's the only one we've seen so far in Croatia, although I know there are more, so I thought I'd put it in here.  This one was extremely shallow!  Plus this shows you a sample of what our guide, Miron, said was true of Croatia, from April to November this is the best country in the world for nice weather, and then the worst the rest of the year.  I think he must have meant good meaning sunny because it sure was warm and humid!

It only took about 45 minutes to drive around this city 160,000 people that is 1700 years old, and where graffiti is legal.  We can tell you that there are too many kids with too little to do here so there is A LOT of graffiti everywhere, and it's not the street art kind, just words and numbers.  Anyways, there are some nice parts of town, municipal and government buildings, lots of oleander and bougainvillea.  The lovely yellow building is the National Grand Theater, built in 1893.  On the top right is one of the most beloved spots in the city, the Poljud Stadium, home of the Hajduk Split soccer/football team.  

As we circled back around to the harbor I got a picture of home.

There are many parts of the old Venetian walls that pop up here and there.  From 1420 until 1797 Venice ruled this part of the world knowing that the Ottoman Turks were not far away so defenses were a necessity.

Just a reminder again that Croatia is a young country and still struggles with some corruption by officials which doesn't help their economy.  It's also the second most dependent country in Europe due to the fact that they don't really have any large industries here, tourism is what brings in the cash.  It is also shrinking in population due to so many people leaving to find work in other countries, like the UK, U.S and Australia.  We heard twice that there is a large population of Croatians in Cork, Ireland.  Not sure why other than jobs but it could be because they love their sense of community with so many of them there.  Bottom line is that there are five times more Croatians living abroad that live in Croatia.

The main draw in Split is Diocletian's Palace, one of the largest and best preserved Roman  palaces in the world, dating back to the 4th century.

And who might you ask, was Diocletian?  This Roman emperor, who eventually abdicated the throne, was born and died in Split.  First and foremost a soldier, he made many reforms to the military, financial systems and administration of the empire, changing the rules of ruling Rome in an attempt to make it more manageable.  He was the emperor who divided the unwieldy realm into east and west domains.  When he laid aside the crown in 305 he built this palace over the course of ten years, and it was the retirement home where he spent the rest of his life.  It became the heart of the inner city with the rest of it growing around the palace as it was added to throughout succeeding historical periods.  

We entered the palace from street level through this gate, 

into what used to be the world's biggest European toilet.  This part would have been the original foundations of the palace.  Note the hole pictured in the photo on the upper right.T there were many like this one in the ceiling which were basically the toilets up above and this space was what they drained into for centuries.  Eventually all the years of sewage was cleared out and sanitized, leaving a cleaner, but still somewhat moist area that is pretty much perfectly preserved.  Who knew compacted sewage could do that for a building?!

We came out into the square with these columns that are a different color than the rest of the stone due to that fact that Diocletian loved all things Egyptian.  He had these columns brought from Egypt to adorn his palace.

He also had this 3500 year old sphinx, one of several in the palace, brought to adorn his retirement home.  This one is the best preserved and is made of granite.  Croatians like to live with their history not tuck it away hence it's easy to walk around the palace today. 

Old Roman steps are wide and tall.

For a price you could have your photo taken with a couple of Roman soldiers.

Looking back where we came through is the Golden Gate.

The bell tower was added in the 11th century and took 300 years to build, crazy when the entire palace complex only took 10.  On the right is the oldest cathedral in the world, due to ongoing renovations this was as close as we could get.  Constructed in the 4th century, the  Cathedral of Saint Dominus was originally the mausoleum of Diocletian and then became a Catholic cathedral in the 7th century, making it the oldest  of its kind. 

Another view near the cathedral and bell tower.

This small Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter was later turned into a baptistry.  The sphinx outside of it didn't fare as well with the Christians as the other one did, the head and hands were removed, as human features on an animal were considered sacrilegious.

Just some of the architectural details and carvings on the buildings.

There are still around 700 people who live within Diocletian's Palace but the number dwindles each year as

spaces are taken over by restaurants and shops.

At the back of the palace is the Iron Gate.

A view of the wall from the side opposite the sea.  It really is quite the retirement villa.

And why do I have a photo of a golden toe here?

This is the statue of Gregory, a Croatian bishop who iived during the 10th century.  He went to the pope to ask permission to do mass in Croatian rather than Latin.  His request was granted and Croatia became to only country allowed to celebrate mass in their native tongue.  He is beloved by the Croatian people and if you make a wish and rub his toe your wish is supposed to come true.  But you can't tell anyone what your wish is so don't ask me! You can see from the color of Gregory's toe that a lot of people make wishes there.  You may notice some seams on the statue itself.  During WW2 there was a fear that Mussolini was going to melt the statue down to make weaponry so rather than let that happen the statue was cut in five pieces and buried to hide it away.  Following the war the sections were recovered and welded back together again.  

The bell tower here is from the Cathedral of Saint Domnius.

Lest you think I was kidding that people live within the walls, that little window near the center left is to let light into someone's bathroom.

Outside the palace but nearby is the old City Hall, complete with the city of Split coat of arms above the doors.

A few more street scenes as we wandered about doing a little shopping.

These pretties were growing in a flower box at a restaurant.

Another statue in Split was created in memory of Marko Marulić, who is considered the father of Croatian literature.  He stands here among the walls and towers of the old city.

One last shot of us in the old city before we headed off to find

some lunch at a local konoba, a kind of Croatian homestyle restaurant.  The bread was delicious as was my venison and gnocchi.  

And to finish off the meal we of course found some gelato, this time it was Rocket (basically chocolate hazelnut) and Hazelnut.  Rocket was my fav today.  Pineapple Ginger is still my absolute favorite.

We walked along the riva, or waterfront promenade back to the ship, happy to be back in air conditioning and to relax for a bit after a good day of exploring and eating.  Another good day!