Views of Split - largest city in Dalmatia

The Town of Split is a beautiful historic city in Croatia. The Old Town is situated on the exact site of the palace of the Emperor Diocletian in Dalmatia - one of the four historic regions of Croatia.

It has been said that the palace is regarded as the world’s most complete remains of a Roman palace. For this reason it is an important monument to the history and heritage of Europe and the Mediterranean. The palace was made of limestone and marble, and much of this material came from quarries on the island of Brač. The Romans also imported some Egyptian granite columns to add to the decoration.

In 2007 the public in Split became aware of a politically motivated plan to allow twenty new buildings to be built within the palace, even though the palace had been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Monument. So they petitioned against the decision and they won.

We had a thoroughly amusing tour guide while we were there. According to her, the basement areas of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian used to house a disco in the nineteen seventies. As she quipped: “… then those killjoys from UNESCO came along and spoiled all our fun!”

Today there are many restaurants and shops within the palace walls making it a lively and interesting place to visit. The palace has also been used as a location to film the fourth season of the TV series Game of Thrones.