Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia

Andrew and I crept out of the house early in the morning, trying not to disturb the volatile guard dog that stood between us and the gate that led onto the road outside. A short walk took us to Dubrovnik’s bus station, and there we got tickets for Split, our final destination in Croatia.

We were thankful that yesterday had been fine and we were travelling today, because there was a thick mist during the early part of journey, accompanied by rain, falling steadily during our short transit of Bosnia at Neum, and again at the bottom end of the Neretva valley, where we stopped near the border at Metković. From then on, it was a straightforward run towards Split, where we arrived at 1230. Having seen and enjoyed much of the coastal scenery on the journey down to Dubrovnik two days earlier, we were both content to snooze through much of the morning. Fortunately, the weather picked up in the latter stages and we were in blue skies and bright sunshine upon arrival.

An eccentrically shaped block of flats in Split

Central Split, seen from the harbour where the bus station and ferry terminal are

Ancient architecture in Split

This promenade, lined with restaurants and market stalls, runs between Diocletian's Palace (left) and the harbour

Split's centre is replete with beautiful stone buildings

It’s fair to say that neither of us had done extensive research on what to see or do in Split, since we were looking to spend a few hours there before taking a ferry across to Italy; we would shortly be going to Rome and separating, to stay with our respective friends there. We had already rather turned our attention westwards and were no longer seeking to maximise our remaining time this side of the sea. This didn’t matter a great deal, since there is only one really essential feature of Split that must not be missed out on when visiting the port city.

Diocletian was born in Salona, capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia, in AD 244, and ruled briefly as emperor and for a long time as co-emperor in the east of the empire (alongside Maximian in the west) from 284 until his abdication in 305. I am no expert, not having studied this period of history at all, but it seems Diocletian has a reputation as a reformer, and is noted for having willingly stepped down for his leadership and lived out his life in retirement. However, his legacy didn’t last and the empire fell into infighting after his rule. Of greater relevance to our visit to Split was the legacy he left in that city.

Diocletian is considered the founder of Split, which lies on a headland protruding from Salona (nowadays called Solin). There, he constructed an extensive residence and lived there from his voluntary retirement on 1 May 305 until his death in December 312. The modern city built up around what became known as Diocletian’s Palace, and today it is remarkably intact, forming the bulk of the city’s centre. There are more recent constructions within the site, but most of these are also historically significant, such as the intricate bell tower of the Cathedral of St Domnius (Katedrala Svetog Duje), which was erected in 1100. The cathedral is original and was designed as Diocletian’s mausoleum, later modified to become a church. That his remains now lie beneath a church is ironic considering Diocletian persecuted Christians and the cathedral is itself dedicated to St Domnius, a bishop of Salona who was martyred at Diocletian’s behest in 304.

The cathedral's bell tower

Roman remains, both on the ground and still standing

Andrew and I spent a few hours wandering the streets and taking in the amazing remains of this ancient construction. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is extensive enough to have a range of ways in which it is preserved today, with some areas relatively untouched, and others contrasting old and new. There is an underground complex full of small market stalls selling souvenirs, clothes, jewellery, glassware, pottery and more, and this network of passages is recognisable as the filming location of the underground vault where Daenerys imprisons her dragons in the fantasy series Game of Thrones. Above ground, cafés, restaurants and shops blend in seamlessly with the historic buildings. We found a café for a snack lunch well away from the palace complex. After our positive experiences of dining in Zadar and more negative ones in Dubrovnik, we wondered what Split would offer. It turned out that we had the world’s slowest waiter, who was also incredibly difficult to catch the attention of. A much longer time later than it needed to be, we returned to the palace complex and explored further, taking in the Temple of Jupiter (Jupiterov hram). We took a few minutes to enjoy the harmonious singing of a traditional Dalmatian klapa male voice choir, who were singing inside the base of an open-topped tower, the curved walls echoing and enhancing their tuneful performance. There are a couple of videos of klapa singers in Split on YouTube.

The underground complex of Diocletian's Palace

The Temple of Jupiter (Jupiterov hram)

Dalmatian klapa singers

Not to be outdone by Zadar, Dubrovnik or Kotor, Split has plenty of pretty, narrow streets

To the north of the palace complex is Park Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, which was overlooked by a dark and foreboding statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin. Here there was a small market with stalls selling various local produce, particularly lavender, as well as the usual souvenirs. An extension to this featured antiques and various miscellaneous bric-a-brac, including mundane household items, but there were also more interesting artefacts from the former Yugoslavia, such as old banknotes, military cap badges and street signs. Heading back through the old walls, we saw a number of street performers dressed as Roman legionaries, providing entertainment and photo opportunities for the many tourists enjoying exploring the ancient palace complex.

Roman legionaries guard the northern entrance to Diocletian's Palace

Bishop Gregory of Nin

The Golden Gate (Zlatna vrata), the northern entrance to Diocletian's Palace

After a little more wandering, Andrew and I returned to the bus station and collected our bags from the luggage storage, popped into a small shop to blow the few remaining kuna we had left, and then queued for passport control at the adjacent ferry terminal, to check in for our crossing to the Italian port of Ancona. With my EU passport, I breezed through but Andrew was scrutinised for being an American with a Turkish visa from some time ago, with the Croatian customs officials concerned that this meant he was dodgy. I had to wait outside for him for twenty minutes, all the while wondering whether he might have been frogmarched quietly away to some indeterminately long detention, whereupon I would have to deny all knowledge of him as a friend and hope that I would not face similar charges for being complicit in his unknown crimes. Mercifully, he emerged and we boarded the waiting ferry.

Split from the deck of the ferry

I have a lot of experience with ferries, mostly on the Dover-Calais and Dover-Dunkerque routes when I lived in Belgium, but also between the UK and the Netherlands and in the Scottish isles. Despite this, I was in new territory, never having been a foot passenger before, nor having such a long crossing (10 hours). Most of the others onboard had booked into cabins, but we had cheaper tickets, allowing us to use communal areas only. We spent the final hour or so before setting sail on the open air deck at the stern of the vessel, watching the darkening coastline of Croatia vanish beyond the horizon as the ferry made its way towards Italy. Overnight, we hunkered down across several seats in an empty communal seating area, using spare clothes and towels as makeshift blankets to keep warm, as it was freezing outside and the inside didn’t appear to be heated. As tiredness overcame us, we looked forward to our separate onward adventures in Italy, and reflected upon our stay in Croatia. We had shared some good moments and visited several fantastic places, but mostly had enjoyed a peaceful few days of relative relaxation to wind down after hard work in the preceding months and hard work to come; I started my busy summer job in a little over a week. Prior to our meeting up in Zagreb, my solo travelling had been unforgettable, and I thought back especially fondly to being completely bowled over by Bosnia.

I still desperately want to return to that country and visit it more thoroughly for a longer period. Seeing more of the Balkans than the parts of Slovenia and northern Croatia I had visited with my family had really captivated me, and I was itching to go back. I was keen to see the southern and eastern parts of the region, and extend outside the former Yugoslavia: Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Romania. Little did I know it then, but in three short months’ time, I would do just that.

Doviđenja Hrvatska!