Split is the second largest city in Croatia, with just under 200,000 inhabitants, and is the largest on the Adriatic coast. Emerging from a Greek settlement founded between the 3rd and 4th centuries BC, the height of Split's history came in 295 BC when Roman emperor Diocletian ordered a residence to be built there for his retirement. It took ten years to build this magnificent palace and Diocletian lived there until his death in 313 BC. After that, many Roman rulers continued to use it as a retreat. In the 7th century, when the Roman colony of Salona was abandoned, many of its inhabitants sought sanctuary behind the palace's high walls and their descendants lived there until the present day.

The city enjoyed a good degree of autonomy between the 12th and 14th centuries before it was conquered by the Venetians in 1420. After the fall of Venetian rule in 1797, Split was ruled by the Austrians, and briefly by the French, before becoming part of the Yugoslavia that was formed in 1918. Much of its development occurred after 1920 when Zadar, Dalmatia's official capital, became an Italian enclave. In 1941, the city was occupied by the Italians and a very strong resistance movement soon evolved and the city was first liberated in 1943, after the capitulation of Italy, and then finally in October of 1944 when the first people's government of Croatia was formed.

Getting there

Split is well served by air from Zagreb, and also has direct international links with Rome and London. There are at least two trains a day from Zagreb, with a journey time of about 9 hours, and over 20 buses. Numerous ferries connect Split with the nearby Adriatic islands (Hvar, Brac, Vis, Lastovo etc) and there is a coastal ferry service between the city and Rijeka to the north and Dubrovnik to the south. There are also daily ferries in the summer months (and slightly less frequent during the winter) between Split and Ancona in Italy.

Things to see

Obviously, the most important sight is Diocletian's palace. Get a locally published guide in English which describes this monument in great detail. Do not miss the Peristyle which is the main open space in the palace and is surrounded by a colonnade of six columns to the eastern and western sides and an arch, decorated with garlands, in the centre. On the eastern side of the Peristyle is a cathedral. On the western side is the "People's Square" (Narodni trg) with the old town hall which was built in the 15th century. There is an Ethnographic museum on the square (worth visiting) and nearby is a city museum. Don't miss a remarkable statue of Gregory of Nin (Grgur Ninski), a Croatian religious leader from the 10th century, by the most famous Croatian sculptor, Ivan Mestrovic.

There are also some fascinating museums like the Maritime Museum; the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments; the Museum of Croatia; and the Mestrovic Gallery which is housed in his summer residence, which was completed in 1939 and designed by Mestrovic himself.