When presented with something to climb, usually to get a stunning panoramic view, I am always keen.  Over many years, I have scrambled up large stones, navigated foot paths, conquered seemingly endless staircases, squeezed between inner domes and outer domes, put faith in wooden ladders and ropes, ridden small and large elevators (some with Art Deco interiors or digital displays; some randomly missing buttons on the console), and I even folded into a space pod at the Gateway Arch.

In Part 1 of this post, I am taking a moment to reflect on these physical heights that I discovered while in Croatia. I am throwing in some interesting lows as well, where we climbed down instead of up!

In the categories of best Hill, Fortress, Bell Tower, Oculus, Waterfall, Underground/Manmade, and Underground/Natural, here are my picks for Split, Croatia:

Hill: The hill to climb in Split is Marjan.  It is a prominent backdrop to many photos of the city.  In a place well-known for having rock everywhere, this hill is uniquely and wonderfully covered in a dense pine forest.  It also has stairs! – when wandering around on a walking boot because of a broken foot, stairs get huge bonus points.  From various terraces, I was rewarded with sweeping views of the city, the sea, and the surrounding islands.  This is the spot when you know you are in Split.

Fortress:  While the fortress in Hvar was accessible by foot and offered a great view of the harbour, my vote for the most impressively high fortress in Split is Klis. Up on a rock in the middle of the pass between two mountains, as the only access to Split from the country’s interior and with a full view of the city and the sea, it’s no surprise that this strategic piece of land was highly fought over for more than two thousand years.  It’s only accessible by vehicle, and the fortress isn’t much, but I spent a long time captivated by this view!

Bell tower:  The iconic bell tower in town is connected to Saint Domnius Cathedral, right in the heart of Old Town. We bought our tickets just at the entrance of the tower, where our next step was right onto the stairs.  155 steps as I recall, but not all steps are created equal!  Some were carved out of stone and quite tall, requiring some real leg drive. The original builders took 300 years to finish this Romanesque structure starting in the 12^th century, which suggests that there was time to carve shorter steps, but maybe this was a defensive move?   This bell tower actually has bells, which I suspect were a key part of the 1906 renovation, and we were thankful that they did not ring as we ascended and descended.  Approaching the top, the steps had surprisingly transitioned to modern scaffolding.  We eventually were rewarded with a full open-air platform to see all the way around, with views of the sea as well as the rugged mountains, all framed by some stunning columns.

Oculus:  On my first visit to the Vestibulum of Diocletian’s Palace, we listened to a group of male singers performing traditional klapa music – a form of a cappella specific to Dalmatia, Croatia. The sound alone was beautiful, but the resonance within the barreled space was immersive.  On my second visit, we discovered a very unique feature of this structure – we could go on the roof!  The access is not widely known, and it does involve getting first to the roof of a neighboring building – with permission of course.  Actually, they even sell tickets to their roof for this reason!  Klapa was being performed again on that visit, and to hear it soaring up through the oculus was a real treat.  How often do you get to go on the roof of a building that intentionally has a big hole in it???

Waterfall:  The repeated recommendation I received about Croatia was to go to Plitvice Lakes National Park.  So I did.  It was stunning.  Truly stunning.  A fellow traveler described it as a “mashup of Minnesota Northwoods and tropical waterfalls, with the bluest water you can possibly imagine.” The park is full of lakes (as announced in the name), but also all kinds of elevation changes and canyons, which results in a wide variety of waterfalls.  The tallest waterfall is aptly named Veliki slap (Large Waterfall) and is 78 meters high (256 feet.) The area has been a known gathering point in the region for centuries, and only became a national park in 1949, founded by the relatively new socialist republic known then as the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia.  I think it was an impressive acknowledgement that such a well-trafficked area wouldn’t stay pristine much longer if it wasn’t protected.  In 1979, during just the third inscription year, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage register (along with the Palace of Diocletian and the Old City of Dubrovnik.)  I was a little surprised to find out that the UNESCO status was put at risk during the Croatian War of Independence when land mines were planted within the park (and have reportedly since been removed!)  Now there are new concerns that contamination from recent development near the park may be putting the designation at risk again.  But on the day I was there, it was magical.

Underground/Manmade:  I confess – I have not watched any episode of Game of Thrones – I know, I know, I hear it’s phenomenal.  I did read a few of the books twenty years ago, so perhaps I was just too early to the party?  But it was quite easy to imagine when standing in the cellars of Diocletian’s Palace, that the location could be a dragon’s lair which apparently the makers of the hit television show brought to life using footage of this space.  It is floor to ceiling stone, with high vaults, thick columns, nooks and secret passageways – everything to make you a little curious and a little nervous about what creature may be lurking around the next corner.

Underground/Natural: As a bonus stop after our bus* took us to the historic city of Trogir, and the Fortress of Klis, we wound up in the outskirts of Split at the Vranjaca Cave.  As the story goes, the property has been passed within a family for generations and generations, and they were aware of one cavern.  In 1903, they were surprised to discover, through a small opening in the initial cavern, that they had a second deeper and larger cavern!  The current family member giving underground tours (having taken over from his father) shared his calculations with us – –  based on the water quality and mineral content and the size of the stalactites and stalagmites, he estimates that the whole cave is 65 to 70 million years old!  – give or take?  There is a mesmerizing stillness when you are 85 meters (279 feet) underground, with only the sound of dripping water.  Our host did briefly “play” the stalactites like a xylophone and transformed the space into a spellbinding musical hall.  It was a powerful place to acknowledge how small and fleeting our world is in comparison to the endurance of these caves.  

That’s the list.  I hope you can tell that, from above and below, I really enjoyed exploring Split, Croatia.  Hvala!

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* The bus tour that included Trogir, Klis, and Vranjaca Cave was the combination of the blue and green lines of the Split Hop-On, Hop-Off bus.