I admit right up front – I had never heard of the city of Split before looking into this Remote Year program, and I definitely could not have pointed to it on a map. If that is true for you now, then I am very happy to tell you about a really cool place you should definitely put on your list to see!
Where is it? I imagine as I gaze out across the Adriatic sea before me, that waaaaay out there, is the lower calf of the back of Italy’s boot. Does that help?
What does it look like? My eyes are continually drawn to the amazingly blue sea glittering in the sunshine or reflecting the moon. The horizon line isn’t straight, but rather you see the alluring profiles of islands (including the one that became a film set for the second Mamma Mia! movie) and you watch the ferries and catamarans traveling back and forth, navigating with the occasional cargo ship and lots of sailboats. When I can pull away from the sea, I have noticed the charm of a city with haphazard, hilly streets and alleys clustered with shops and residences with orange tiled rooftops at all kinds of crazy angles.
Is there a major ‘claim to fame’? The heart of the old town centre is “one of the largest and best-preserved palaces left from the Roman world.” Emperor Diocletian retired from public life in the year 305 and moved to this palace he had built along the water. It is a walled compound – a retired emperor can never be too careful. It therefore also has gates. The main gate is the Golden Gate. I will give Diocletian the benefit of the doubt that it originally greeted visitors with quite some shine. Within the walls is enough of a rabbit warren of stone-paved pathways opening into squares and leading to all kinds and ages of chapels, to spark some imagination and exploration. Everyone’s favourite coffee shop seems to be within the walls somewhere, if you can find it.
Is there a second ‘claim to fame’? It is definitely a popular tourist destination in the summer for all of the beaches and the islands and a big music festival. There is also another feature of the palace – in order to have the Emperor’s rooms along the sea wall AND slightly higher than any other residence in the enclosure, the architects had to build quite a substructure to create a platform for Diocletian’s quarters. Call it a basement, and imagine it being used for storage. Call it a vault, and imagine it being used for sewage. Call it a dungeon, and you don’t have to imagine but you can (apparently) see it as a lair for dragons in the Game of Thrones series.
Have you seen lots of Dalmatian dogs? While this region is indeed called Dalmatia, and it is the origin of those cute Disney (or Budweiser if you prefer) dogs, the running joke is that all 101 of them have moved to Hollywood.
More on Split ahead as we keep exploring!
Lovely 🙂