Roman Monument

Diocletian’s Palace

Split · Central Dalmatia

SCROLL

CATEGORY: Roman Monument
COUNTRY: Croatia
REGION: Split · Central Dalmatia
DURATION: 2 days

ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION

Diocletian’s Palace is not a building you visit so much as a city you walk through — a vast 4th-century Roman palace that became the medieval and modern old town of Split, its walls and gates still standing and its interior filled with houses, squares, shops and the cathedral built into the emperor’s mausoleum. The Peristyle, the palace’s colonnaded main square, the underground cellae and the Golden Gate are the Roman core around which the living city grew. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most remarkable survivals of the Roman world.

HISTORY & BACKGROUND

The story behind it

The palace was built around 300 AD by the emperor Diocletian as his retirement home, on an inlet near his birthplace, laid out as a fortified imperial compound with temples, a mausoleum and the emperor’s apartments. After the fall of the empire, refugees from the destroyed city of Salona moved into the palace, turning its halls into houses and its mausoleum into the cathedral of St Domnius. The palace has been lived in ever since, which is why it survives as a city rather than a ruin — and why it is a UNESCO site of continuous habitation rather than an excavated monument.

WHAT TO SEE

What to see here

The Peristyle, the colonnaded main square of the palace and the heart of the old town.

The cathedral of St Domnius, built into Diocletian’s mausoleum, with its bell tower.

The underground cellae, the vaulted halls beneath the palace, now an exhibition space.

The Golden Gate, the Silver Gate and the Bronze Gate — the Roman entrances to the palace.

The Temple of Jupiter, a Roman temple preserved as a baptistery.

WHY IT MATTERS

Why it matters

The palace is Split — the old town is the palace, and there is no separating the two. For a visitor it is the rare Roman monument you live in rather than look at, and the reason the city is a UNESCO site and the capital of Central Dalmatia.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

Before you go

Access

The palace is the old town, open and free to walk at all times; the cathedral, the cellae and the Temple of Jupiter have entry fees.

Best Time

Early morning or evening for the quietest lanes; the palace is busiest from late morning.

Pairing

Combine with the Riva promenade and a climb up Marjan hill.

THROUGH THE LENS

From the road

MAP & LOCATION