Split
Diocletian’s Palace, where Split began 1,700 years ago, is its ever-present heart and soul for all of us who live here
Split, our new home town, is Croatia’s second largest city, with 225,000 people. It’s world-famous as the site of where Emperor Diocletian built his famous retirement palace around 298AD, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The palace, actually a walled compound for the Emperor’s family and army retinue, is still home to more than 3,000 people and is an amazing tapestry of almost two thousand years of history. Alive with shops, ancient alleys, dramatic architecture as well as locals hanging their wash and haggling over the price of fruit, the open-air palace is not to be missed.
Split is also the jumping off point to the gorgeous islands of Brac, Hvar, Vis and Solta. And with daily seaplane flights to Hvar, Korcula, Pula in Istria and even to Italy, it’s even more perfect for day trips. In addition to European Coastal Airlines seaplanes, there are daily frequent ferries and catamarans to the islands and all the way to Dubrovnik (via Krilo’s catamaran that leaves around 7:30AM daily in season and gets to Dubrovnik just after noon). All of the islands can be done in the same day, except Vis, which requires an overnight . Charming Trogir, another one of Croatia’s UNESCO sites is only 30 minutes away and Dubrovnik, reached by a spectacular drive along the Makarska Riviera, is 4.5 hours. And Split has Croatia’s best bus/rail/air connections (Croatia Airlines provides a bus that drops you off right opposite the ferry terminal, just 5 minutes from the city’s waterfront promenade in front of the Palace)—cheap, fast, clean! Split also has a terrific open-air fish and green market; great museums; a rapidly improving restaurant scene; lots of summer nightlife and festivals and very good swimming. A magical 11kn ($2) must–the city bus which leaves every hour at the end of the Riva in front of the Sv. Frane church. It takes the winding coastal road all the way to Bene, where you can hop off and walk through a huge forested park, swim (even a lifeguard for kiddies) sun yourself on flat rocks, play tennis, rent a bike, get a snack at the waterfront open air restaurant and on the way back take in the wonderful Mestrovic Museum and its outdoor park. Fabulous! For us, living in Split is a pleasure we enjoy every single day!
Tourist Offices, with two locations
in the central Peristile,
next to the Cathedral in Diocletian’s Palace
Open every day, multi-lingual, lots of free maps and guides
On the waterfront Riva
Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 7/1
Phone: +385 (0)21 348 600
Fax: +385 (0)21 348 604
E-mail: tz-split@st.t-com.hr
Our favorite links
–the official town site, event schedule, history, more.
–very good prices on a complete array of tours, from walking tours, wine tasting, adventure and more to speedboat trips to Hvar, the Blue Cave and Vis that get 12 lucky people there and back in the same day!
www.mdc.hr/mestrovic/galerija/povijest-en.htm
–Mestrovic is one of the most important sculptors of
the 20th century. The villa he designed overlooking the sea
and set on lovely grounds is now a museum.