Diocletian’s Palace
Diocletian’s Palace is not only a must-see if you’re traveling through Croatia, if possible, it is absolutely worth it to stay inside the palace walls in Split. Portions of the palace are in remarkable condition, and walking through the fortress and the historic center really transports you back in time. It’s also a cool juxtaposition as you walk out from behind the walls to modern cafes and outdoor restaurants along a beautiful bay, with sail boats and posh yachts adding to the view.
Located in a protected bay along the Dalmatian coast, the palace was built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD. It is referred to as a “palace” because of its intended use as the retirement residence for Diocletian, but the term can be misleading, as the structure is massive and more resembles a large fortress. About half of the area was intended for Diocletian’s personal use, and the rest housed his military garrison.
The complex was built on a peninsula six kilometers southwest from Salona, the former capital of Dalmatia, and one of the largest cities of the late empire with 60,000 people. The city was not only Diocletian’s birthplace, he continued to love this area of the coast his entire life.
Today the remains of the palace are part of the historic core of Split, which in 1979 was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Arriving at the end of October, we were surprised to find the weather warm during the day, and the city bustling with locals, assorted cruise ship passengers in port, and even US Navy personnel from a carrier for a couple of days. Within a couple of weeks, many shops and restaurants were packing up and closing for the winter, and the city took on a very different feel. It quickly became mostly locals roaming the streets and in the restaurants, and that was great for us.
This may have felt less dramatic if we hadn’t been staying in the heart of the ancient city, mostly the palace. One of the perks of not traveling in the heart of tourist season, we rented a quaint little apartment on the top floor of a medieval stone building, with a patio overlooking the Northern Wall of Diocletian’s Palace, for a song. The historic city behind the walls, normally inundated with tourists jamming into the various narrow cobblestoned corridors, was mildly occupied throughout the day, and almost completely empty at night. Walking home from a restaurant, or our favorite spot to have a night cap, we often would be the only ones navigating the dark, semi-lit, stone paths, which was exactly the experience we were looking for.
The Ancient Gates of the Palace
Approximately half of medieval Split is made up of Diocletian’s Palace, and it still has four gates you can enter in and out of. The Bronze gate to the south, the Golden Gate to the north, the Silver Gate to the east, and the Iron Gate to the west.
The Golden Gate was used as the formal entrance to the city during Diocletian’s time in the 4th century. It is also home to the very unique and incredibly narrow St. Martin’s Church, which is unbelievably built into the wall, and quite awesome to see in person. From our apartment, we could see the nuns of St. Martin’s, who live adjacent to the church and have direct access to the top of the Northern rampart. On sunny days, we often saw them hanging their habits along the wall, or doing other laundry for the church. During our tour of the wall, we happened to run into one of the nuns, who was kind enough to offer us a personal tour of St. Martin’s, which we greatly appreciated
The Iron Gate gets most of the attention as it looks the most medieval, and it overlooks Pjaca (People’s Square), a lovely square with café’s, restaurants, and shops. The square is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat and people watch to your heart’s content. One our favorite experiences in the square was watching a Croatian World Cup match with locals, hearing the stone walls echo with screams of joy every time Croatia scored a goal. We also had an amazing lunch with great friends on the roof of the St Lucia Hotel. Recently remodeled, our rooftop table had a 360 degree view of Split, including Marjan Hill, St Dominus Bell Tower, and an impressive view of the Iron Gate.
The Silver gate, which faces east, was called Porta Orientalis by the Romans, meaning eastern gate. There is a wonderful market just outside the gate that is quite expansive. From fresh produce, meats, cheeses, herbs, olive oil, flowers, and more, the market was a one stop shop for most our items. We shopped at the market almost daily, and often grabbed some charcuterie while we were there to snack on throughout the day.
The Cathedral of Saint Dominus and the Bell Tower
Another must in your visit to the palace is the climb up the tower of the Cathedral of St Domius. It was consecrated at the turn of the 7th century AD, and is regarded as the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world that remains in use in its original structure. The bell tower was built later in the 12th century. Your climb begins within the cathedral and a close-up view of the surrounding buildings. As you continue your climb, you emerge above the terracotta rooftops to be rewarded with the best views of Old Town Split with the gorgeous blue of the bay and surrounding hills in the background.
Diocletian’s Palace and Dungeons
Numerous scenes from the HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones were filmed in Split. Specifically in Diocletian’s Palace, but also in the surrounding areas of Split, like Klis Fortress, about 25 minutes drive from the historic part of town. GOT fans will recognize Klis Fortress as the city of Meereen. Touring Diocletian’s Palace, the dungeons will also look familiar to fans, as they were used as the dragon lair for Daenerys Targaryen’s 3 dragons. Other parts of the palace were used in various scenes throughout the series as well.
Renting an Apartment in a Medieval City
While we’ve enjoyed touring a number of cities that date back thousands of years, there are very few we’ve been able to stay for an extended period of time, that gives you a touch of what it was like to live in a medieval city. Such was the case when we holed up in Split last year for the fall quarter. At times, it was almost like a movie set, especially on cold, dark, rainy nights.
In high season the apartment we rented goes for 3x what it does in the offseason. We couldn’t have been more pleased with our stay during the fall. Seeing the locals pace of life during the offseason, nesting in the apartment, and at a great price, were all fantastic.