Shore Leave In Split
We were served our last breakfast aboard the Colombo, then politely kicked to the curb -or the Quay to be more specific- at around 8:30 AM, which was the check out time. Our plan of action was to drag our luggage to our hotel and ask them to store it until we were allowed to check in later in the afternoon. We got a lucky break because when we arrived at the hotel, the receptionist said our room was ready and she allowed us to check in immediately. That was a blessing for sure.
I hadn’t really made any specific plans for our time in Split. We had a few days to kill before the second tour of this trip kicked off.
Split is the second largest city in Croatia. It was founded as a Greek colony in the 3rd or 2nd Century BCE. In 650 AD, it replaced the Roman capital of Salona after that city was sacked by Byzantine forces. Like the history of Croatia overall, Split’s history is mindbogglingly complicated and connected to myriad civilizations and historical events. Basically- never a dull moment. Split boasts seventeen centuries of continuous occupation and tradition. In recent times there were several filming locations around Split for Game of Thrones.
Lucija had recommended that we go up Marjan Hill for the views if we had time. Since we’d gotten into our hotel room so early, we were able to get settled, change our clothes, and head for the hill(s). Marjan Hill was used as a park as early as the third century. In the 1950’s, a big renovation project was started -adding recreational areas, some road access, a zoo (now abandoned), a botanical garden (also abandoned), and lookout points. This “hill” was already being used as a park as early as the third century.
To get to the hill, we had to go back across the waterfront nearly to where the Colombo was moored. I took the next couple of pictures at that end of the waterfront because I knew that we probably wouldn’t walk in that direction again.
I would have liked to have explored this little plaza more -except they were having some sort of event there that day.
Just after this church, we had to turn into a side street and follow it until we found the stairs marking the beginning of the climb up Marjan Hill. There were a lot of stairs at first!
Finally, we reached an area where there was just an uphill path for awhile.
We soon arrived at the Church of St. Nicholas -circa 1200. It is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the patron saint of fishermen.
Right near the church, there was a choice between two paths to the top. One went up more stairs to the area where the zoo used to be. The other was continuing along the wide, sloping path. We stayed on the path….At least until the only way forward were mores steps. These 314 steps (as the sign says) would be our final climb to the top.
We arrived at the top of the hill where there was a very large viewing platform. In addition to the view, there was a big Croatian flag flying and a large stone cross..
We didn’t find it, but there was another church from the 1400’s somewhere on Marjan Hill called St. Jerome’s. It must have been somewhere on the side of the hill between the water and the viewing station because my information says that there are some hermit caves tucked into the cliff side above the church.
We went up to the top for the views and they were lovely!
This picture is overlooking the 314 steps going back down. We retraced our steps to the bottom and then chose to explore a different path (still heading down) that took us past the ex-zoo and eventually down some steps to St. Nicholas Church again. From there we left the park the same way we’d arrived.
Toward the bottom of the hill as we went down the last of the steps, we noticed that the area beyond the railings was in a natural state -and several cats were making themselves at home in the underbrush.
That night, we returned to the little restaurant around the corner from our hotel where we’d eaten the night before our bike trip started last week. We thought it was a cozy place and I liked their pizza.
We’d hoped (in vain) that the next morning -a Sunday- there wouldn’t be cruise ships in port so that we could have a quiet day exploring the old town section of Split. We could see where they dock from our hotel window and when we woke up, there were already two ships in port. The old town area isn’t very big and doesn’t take more than a few hours to see most of it. Because we had a few days before we’d be leaving and our hotel was very close to the old town, we just took our time wandering in and out of the area at different times of the day. That worked to avoid crowds (which we don’t like) and also gave us time to explore more of the side alleys back in there.
Split’s main claim to fame is the remains of the Diocletian Palace, which is the heart of the old town area. This picture was drawn to show what it most likely looked like when it was built.
This palace was built as Emperor Diocletian’s retirement home. In 305 AD, he took up residence. It was originally built directly on the shore because Diocletian wanted to sail directly into the palace and park his ship whenever he arrived by sea. The complex was massive – around 330,000 sq. feet. That is roughly 7.5 acres! When we retired, we downsized our square footage! The complex did include space for the emperor’s residence, military quarters, temples, gardens and so on. Over time, local officials began to fill in the front area of the palace to create a seaside access/promenade for citizens. There is now a very wide public waterfront area (averaging about 60 yards wide) with restaurants and areas to sit and enjoy the views. Boats tie up at various places along the harbor front.
On the way back from Marjan Hill, I took this picture of part of the facade above the restaurants lining the promenade area. While the street level store fronts looked relatively modern, I wondered if the upper part of this building was originally part of the original front of the palace?
The palace was walled and had four wide entry gates – facing North, South, East & West. Inside, the road from each gate met at a crossroad in the middle of the complex, creating four separated areas where the various official buildings were. The original gates are gone, but the gate openings still exist. The wider paths that formed the crossroads still define the interior of the Palace today. Aside from the gate entry streets, the rest of the old town is mostly a twist and turn of small, narrow side alleys, suddenly opening to wider plazas or squares. Only a few of the historic buildings have been preserved. Most of the buildings have been converted to stores, boutique hotels, restaurants and apartments. For example, one restaurant is now located in what was originally a Roman bath in the 4th century.
I mainly just took pictures of whatever interested me -so here they are.
Our hotel was closest to the Silver Gate (East Gate), so we mostly entered the old town area through it. It had been sealed off during the Middle Ages, but in 1952 it was reopened and reconstructed.
The Cathedral of St. Domnius (below) was built in 305 AD, but renovated over the years. It was consecrated at the turn of the 7th century and is considered the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world. St. Domnius is the patron saint of Split. Directly next to the church is Diocletian’s mausoleum, built in an octagon shape. At one time his sarcophagus was placed in the center, but his remains are lost to history.
Peristil Square. It was originally planned as the central courtyard of the palace.
Diocletian was also the Emperor of Egypt, so he had a few extra Sphinx lying around that he used to decorate his palace.
We stopped for lunch at the restaurant in this picture.
This is the Venetian Tower, built in 1435. It is the last remaining defensive tower from the fortress built by the Venetians when they were in control of the city.
This statue is located just outside of the Golden Gate to the Diocletian Palace. It is 28 feet tall and was sculpted in 1929. It is depicting Gregory of Nin who was a bishop in the 800’s who defied the Catholic Church by conducting services in Croatian, rather than Latin. An interesting tidbit about it is that during WWII, it was dismantled and its parts hidden in various places to avoid the possibility of it getting destroyed or melted down. Unlike Humpty-Dumpty… ‘All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could put Gregory back together again’ (in 1954).
Dr. Mike, ever on the case, noticed that there seemed to be a problem with Gregory’s big toe! Turns out that there’s a tradition of rubbing the toe for good luck, which changes the patina a bit.
This is the bell tower of St. Arnir. It is the only thing remaining of a Benedictine monastery, which was destroyed during World War II. There may have been a church in the location as early as 1069. St. Arnir was stoned in 1180.
Outside of the Iron Gate -which is the one we went back and forth through- there was what seemed to be a permanent craft market (in tents) as well as a farmer’s market area.
On our last evening in Split -because we had a lot of reorganizing to do with our luggage- we hit the easy button and went back (again!) to the little restaurant around the corner from the hotel. You know you’re becoming a regular when the waiter brings you a “nice to see you again” shot! We has a bit of a “glad we’ve made it this far” and “good luck to us in the next few days” toast with some large beers too!
Then it was back to the hotel to downsize our luggage -packing only what we needed for our next tour. Our suitcases (and whatever else we didn’t need) would be put into storage at the tour’s HQ for the next five days.