We arrived in Split…the second largest city in Croatia. A beautiful harbor town with a backdrop of dramatic coastal mountains. We booked a tiny studio apartment right in the center of Diocletian’s Palace.
The palace as it once was…the Roman emperor Diocletian’s retirement palace. It is now a Unesco World Heritage site and one of the world’s most impressive Roman monuments. The walls currently surround dozens of bars, restaurants and shops.
The view from one of our apartment windows. Another old town full of marble pathways and stone buildings. Easy to get lost in…and we did!
The old Riva (seafront) steps away from the palace walls. At night it becomes a mass of people…with music playing and street performers gathering crowds.
The reason we shoved earplugs into our brains and took sleeping pills each night! This is the view from our front window….three bars…bass pumping…until 2am. A great place for a nightcap. Amazing people watching…but the cigarette smoke might kill you.
In the morning we left the crowds behind and hiked up Marjan Hill. The Croatian “Forest Park.” The view of central Split and the harbor below.
We hiked along a gravel path with amazing views of the surrounding islands and blue waters of the Adriatic Ocean.
A “hermitage” built into the cliffs set next to a small stone chapel. Meters away we could see climbing routes and chalk marks. Fantastic place to go climbing!
The walls of the Palace. Each wall has a gate named after metals…Golden Gate, Bronze Gate, Silver Gate and Iron Gate. There are 220 buildings within the palace boundaries and it is home to about 3000 people.
We finished our visit with a walking tour…exploring the statues, Temple, Cathedral & Romanesque belfry (shown above) and the eerie basement halls below. Now on to Korcula Island, known for its vineyards and olive groves.
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