About Split

Split is the largest city on the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, tracing its origins to the Greek colony of Aspálathos, founded in the 3rd or 2nd century BC. Its identity was transformed centuries later when the Roman emperor Diocletian chose the site for his retirement residence, a fortified complex that would eventually grow into the living heart of the modern city. Today Split blends a UNESCO-protected Roman core with a busy Adriatic port, making it the natural gateway to the islands of central Dalmatia.

History

Construction of Diocletian's Palace was completed in 305 AD, shortly before the emperor abdicated and retired there. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the region came under Byzantine control from 535 AD, administered at various points through the Exarchate of Ravenna and later from Zadar. Venice's involvement in Split spanned two long periods: an intermittent presence from 998 to 1420, followed by nearly four uninterrupted centuries of Venetian rule from 1420 until 1797, when the city passed to the Habsburg monarchy under the Treaty of Campo Formio.

Split's political map shifted again during the Napoleonic era, becoming part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805 and later the French Empire itself, before reverting to Austrian control after 1813. It remained part of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia, and subsequently Austria-Hungary, until the empire's dissolution in 1918. Through all these changes of ruler, the Roman palace at the city's center endured, continuously inhabited and adapted rather than left to ruin.

Diocletian's Palace and the Historic Core

The palace and the historic nucleus built into and around it were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, recognized as the best-preserved example of Roman residential architecture on the eastern Adriatic. At its center stands the Peristyle, the palace's ceremonial square, flanked by the Temple of Jupiter, built between 295 and 305 AD as Diocletian's personal shrine. Its coffered stone ceiling is considered among the best-preserved of any Roman temple; the building itself was converted into a Christian baptistery in the 6th century, replacing the altar of Jupiter with a cross-shaped baptismal font.

Nearby, the Cathedral of St Domnius occupies what was originally Diocletian's own mausoleum. The structure was rededicated around 650 AD, after the relics of Saint Domnius were recovered from the ruins of nearby Salona, and it has served as the seat of the local archbishop ever since — making it one of the oldest cathedral buildings in the world still in continuous use. Visitors today can still walk among the palace's original gates, courtyards, and vaulted substructure cellars, which now house shops and market stalls beneath the medieval streets above.

Geography and Modern Split

The 2021 census recorded 160,577 residents within the city itself, with the wider metropolitan area home to roughly 310,000 people, making Split the second-largest city in Croatia after the capital, Zagreb. It serves as the administrative seat of Split-Dalmatia County, and its old town — built directly into the walls of the ancient palace — remains a functioning residential and commercial district rather than a museum piece.

West of the historic center rises Marjan, a forested peninsula reaching 178 metres, long treated by locals as the city's green lung and a favored spot for walking and running trails above the rooftops. Along the waterfront lies Bačvice, a sandy beach known for its shallow water, where local students returning from Prague are credited with inventing the ball game picigin in 1908, a pastime still played there today.

The Port of Split is one of the busiest passenger ports in the Mediterranean, serving as the main hub for ferries and catamarans connecting the mainland to Brač, Hvar, Vis, and the other islands of central Dalmatia — which is why so many visitors explore Split by private gulet charter. Between the Roman ruins underfoot and the islands just offshore, the city functions today much as it always has: a fortified waypoint between the Adriatic and the mainland, still shaped by the palace walls Diocletian built for his retirement.