Split, Croatia - Day 6

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Most people who visit Split would not think that a hike would be one of the highlights. But after a morning of exploring Roman ruins, the afternoon journey to the top of Marjan Hill was an additional treat. More about that later.

Since we were not meeting until 9:30 am, I took a walk before breakfast to snap some shots before the crowds descended. I almost managed to beat the Japanese, but I worked around them. I took some wonderful shots of the Peristyle, once the entryway to Diocletian's Palace and now the Old Town's main square,

remnants of the east wall and gate,

the Narodni Trg or plaza

and a shot of me with the bell tower which is part of the Cathedral of Domnius.

This is a very photogenic city with some of the best Roman ruins outside of Italy. Its main attraction (other than the scenic harbor) is Diocletian's Palace, built around 300 AD, and is now integrated into the landscape of the city. Many streets have arches or walls from the original structure.

After breakfast, our local guide Egona gave us some background information. Diocletian who ruled Rome in the 3rd century for 20 years, planned his own retirement. He wanted to live in his native Dalmatia so he built a huge palace here.  Huge is an understatement. It encompassed 12 acres and the complex housed about 800 people. It was really a fortification with a high wall and barracks for soldiers. (Photo of model showing layout.) Amazingly, it was built in only 10 years using 10,000 slaves from Egypt (the Romans thought well of the Egyptian construction techniques). The Palace was constructed of local limestone quarried into large blocks (don't know how they did that). Diocletian actually lived here for 11 years until his death in 313 AD. 

Our guide took us into "cellars," the cave-like foundation that was built to support the massive palace. Because of its size, it is believed this area was also used for storage. There are lots of little rooms off to the sides. These cellars were only excavated beginning in the 1950s, and there are still some remaining. This was a daunting task because for centuries people had filled these cellars with debris.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, people began to move into the area and created a medieval city. Then in the 1400s the Venetians came in and added more, creating an eclectic mix of styles and contrasts.

Following the cellars, our guide took us to the places I went this morning, including an inside look at the Cathedral of St. Domnius, which had originally been Diocletian's Mausoleum. It is fitting that it is now a church since he was known as the Great Persecutor of Christians and killed at least 140,000. We also went into Jupiter's temple, which is now the Baptistry, with a statue of John the Baptist by famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović.

On our walk, we also happened upon a  klapa group, a men's acappella choir 

and some Roman centurions, protecting their costumes from the rain.

We continued to walk through the streets and went to the north gate where we saw another sculpture by Meštrović, this one of Bishop Gregory. Apparently rubbing his toe brings good luck.

Then we had a delightful lunch at Apetit on a small side street before heading out on our own.

First I did a little shopping, checking out the city market, which was starting to close. I also found a fabric store with Croatian made specialties and treated myself to some braids. This is a blouse the shopkeeper made with them.

Now to summit Marjan Hill, which rises almost 400 feet above the generally flat seaport. The access was easy to find and to my surprise was basically a paved stairway. In a relatively short time I reached a scenic overlook with a restaurant and great views of the city and harbor. 

But there were more stairs so I had to climb. It had gotten hot and crowded in Split but here the air was at least 10 degrees cooler with few people. Lots of Mediterranean pine trees. After climbing numerous stairs, I reached a sign telling me I still had 314 to go to reach the top.But it was gradual and well worth it. The views were wonderful. Caught a glimpse of the soccer stadium, which is a religion here. There was a local team that asked me to photograph them and they returned the favor --with the flag at the peak proving I made it.

By now it was 5 pm and I headed back to the hotel to relax. A small view of Split from the coast.  We were on our own for dinner so I just grabbed some pizza. Caught a night photo of the tower and Cathedral and turned in early. We leave tomorrow for Bosnia-Herzegovina.