You could really see the distinguishing colours of the ocean with pockets of brilliant light blue surrounded by dark navy. In each of the many coves you could see people swimming. The road twists and turns require you to be alert because when heading south the right side of the road is usually a sheer cliff drop off. There are signs posted along the road that say, “ if you are tired, please stop”.
We were able to book a walking tour last minute thanks to a cancellation. Our guide was Joško of Walking Tour of Split and by far he is the best tour guide we’ve ever experienced. We chose his four hour Grand History tour for a cost of $60Euro per person. We can’t rave enough about how incredible Joško was. He is full of passion for his city and country, extremely knowledgeable and engaging. He is personable and is able to carry the tour conversation in any direction as questions come up. We met in old town Split in Diocletian's palace. From there we started with a walk through the daily farmer’s market just outside the palace walls. He bought a couple fresh figs for us to try; I don’t really like figs, but tried a bite anyway and found it to be very juicy and sweet. Not anything
like back home. The market is the place to buy your daily fruits, vegetables, and flowers. From here we walked to the promenade where we learned a little more about life in Split during the Romans’ rule and Diocletian’s time. An interesting fact about the palace is that this was Diocletian’s retirement palace and he moved there at roughly the age of 60 which was almost unheard of living to age age in his time. We toured inside the basement of the palace which is said to be a direct replication of the upper living quarters of Diocletian. There were many different rooms including a theatre, sleeping quarters and hallways guarded by military personnel separating the living quarters from any visitors. Today the palace is buzzing with commerce activities and is filled with a bunch of shops, hotels, and restaurants. Roughly 2000 people actually live inside apartments within the palace walls. We learned many interesting facts about Croats including that they have two religions, Catholicism and football. Croatia has a rich history and has been ruled under many different empires including the Romans, Greeks and Austrians. There is a square in the palace, by the main cathedral built by Christians over top the original musuliem as a revenge on Diocletian’s treatment of a Christians in his final days as emperor, that showcases the architecture of all three empires. The palace itself is very well kept considering it was built in the 3rd century. The walls were all built with limestone rocks and were stacked to prescision requiring no
mortar to keep them together. The palace even had a sewer system which was incredibly advanced for that time. The roads were all made from limestones and over the years have become so well worn that they appear to be marble instead. Diocletian’s rule was actually quite progression in that he introduced a taxation system and split the Roman empire into four regions each with its own emperor.
like back home. The market is the place to buy your daily fruits, vegetables, and flowers. From here we walked to the promenade where we learned a little more about life in Split during the Romans’ rule and Diocletian’s time. An interesting fact about the palace is that this was Diocletian’s retirement palace and he moved there at roughly the age of 60 which was almost unheard of living to age age in his time. We toured inside the basement of the palace which is said to be a direct replication of the upper living quarters of Diocletian. There were many different rooms including a theatre, sleeping quarters and hallways guarded by military personnel separating the living quarters from any visitors. Today the palace is buzzing with commerce activities and is filled with a bunch of shops, hotels, and restaurants. Roughly 2000 people actually live inside apartments within the palace walls. We learned many interesting facts about Croats including that they have two religions, Catholicism and football. Croatia has a rich history and has been ruled under many different empires including the Romans, Greeks and Austrians. There is a square in the palace, by the main cathedral built by Christians over top the original musuliem as a revenge on Diocletian’s treatment of a Christians in his final days as emperor, that showcases the architecture of all three empires. The palace itself is very well kept considering it was built in the 3rd century. The walls were all built with limestone rocks and were stacked to prescision requiring no
mortar to keep them together. The palace even had a sewer system which was incredibly advanced for that time. The roads were all made from limestones and over the years have become so well worn that they appear to be marble instead. Diocletian’s rule was actually quite progression in that he introduced a taxation system and split the Roman empire into four regions each with its own emperor.
We finished our evening by driving to a pizza festival that our morning Uber driver recommended to us. We had no clue what this was about but thought we’d go anyway. It was pretty late already and after being on our feet all day, I was getting to my max limit. It
was definitely a locals festival. We watched with interest how they made and then baked these pizzas on bricks which were heated by burning twigs directly on the bricks. Not being versed in Croatian resulted in us really not understanding how we might be able to buy a couple slices and so as my max was reached we left empty handed and hungry. We discovered very quickly that no food establishments are open at midnight. I guess the 24-hour food culture of North America hasn’t thankfully made its way here. We had to resort to ordering room service and ended up not really enjoying our overpriced meal.
Before leaving the beautiful city of Split, we drove to see the nearby Roman ruins in Salona. Here you can find extremely well preserved, extensive ruins of this ancient city. The amphitheatre ruins are impressive and standing a top provides you with an appreciation just how large the amphitheatre was and the significance of it within the Roman empire. It held upwards of 17,000 people in its day. Your imagination can just run wild thinking of the vast amounts of events held within the walls and the numbers of lives and animals that were brutally sacrificed all in the name of entertainment.
The amphitheatre is about a 15 minute walk from the rest of the city ruins, but the intense heat of the day helped in our decision to drive over instead. Walking around the city ruins, you can see memorial chapel and the importance of providing ornate tombs for the deceased. A short walk from here you come across the city walls that stand towering over the ancient city ruins. Again, the imagination can run wild to think of what life might have been like to live in that city in that time. Discovery of ruins continues today and while there we saw some archeologists working at uncovering further remains within the city walls.
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