Must See in Split

The Cathedral of St. Dominus is a splendid church on the grounds of the Palace complex, with fabulous mosaics in the basement.

For sculpture, there’s the Ivan Meštrović Galkery museum, full of many of his works. Born in Croatia, he emigrated to the U.S. after World War II, and was interred back in Croatia after he died in 1962.

The suburb of Solin, just northeast of Split, has the Ancient Roman Ruins of Solana.

BTW, I also just posted a recommendation for a private guide to Pompeii, on your question from last month. Happy Travels!

We enjoyed our walk out to the marina and lunch at Restoran Adriatic. What a view!

I am surprised you are getting so few responses. There are a lot of RS forum members that have been to Croatia. I've been twice, but both short trips and both quite some time ago so I am not a good source. This will push you back to the top in the forum. Maybe some folks will notice it.

Rick Steves’ big destination recommendation for Croatia, besides Plitvice Lakes Park, is Dubrovnik. I wonder how many RS Forum folks have spent time in/around Split? We visited Zagreb, Plitvice, Split, Trogir, and Solana, but haven’t been to Dubrovnik.

Maybe others will chime in, with the thread bumped up again.

Diocletian’s Palace is massive and it includes some of Europe’s most well-preserved 4th-century Roman architecture.

It was built by Diocletian—the only Roman Emperor who lived long enough to retire. Power had its privileges but living a long life was not necessarily one of them.

There are four gateways built into the palace. The “Golden Gate” built into the palace’s northern wall, was where the Roman soldiers guarding the palace were housed. Today, a guesthouse called “Golden Gate Rooms” has incorporated this area into some of its rooms and you can still see the arrow slits cut into the stone walls so the soldiers could watch and defend the Golden Gate entrance to the palace.

So many features are missed by travelers who are there only for two or three hours before leaving.
Just off the Palace’s Peristyle—the courtyard created by the rows of columns here— is not just St. Dominus Cathedral, but there is a sphinx statue carved in Egypt back in 1,500 BCE and relocated here. Just west of the Peristyle, you’ll find the Temple of Jupiter, one of the best-preserved Roman temples in Europe.

Be sure to see the “Cellars of Diocletian’s Palace,” also called the “Substructures.” It is considered to be one of the best-preserved structures of its kind anywhere in the world . The cellars were used for housing, storage and where wine and oil presses were used to make the palace’s supply of wine and olive oil.

There are active archaeological excavations in a large area you can see toward the palace’s southern wall. Someday. this section will have its own attractions open to the public.

Diocletian’s Palace is the top site to see in Split. Within the walls is the Church and treasury, mentioned above, very small, a quick visit. You can climb to the top of the bell tower, entrance just outside the Church Doors. The crypt isn’t worth going down into. Also in this area is Peristil Courtyard with an original intact sphinx.
There is also a complex underneath which you can get to through the courtyard.
I can recommend a wonderful tour guide who lives in Split. He is very reasonable and we have used him a few times.
Pero Ugarković
Email address [email protected]

We enjoyed the Archeology Museum in Split. As you can imagine, 2000 years of Roman history leaves a lot of stuff.