Diocletian's Palace in Split - UNESCO heritage

Diocletian's Palace in Split

Apartment

Croatia / Split
Capacity: 4 - 6

Diocletian's Palace was placed on UNESCO'S list of world heritage sights. It is one of the best preserved sights of Roman architecture in the world. The emperor's palace was built between the years 295 and 305 a.d. as a combination of luxurious villas and roman military camps (castruma), divided into four sections by two main streets. The south side of the palace was intended for the emperor and the north side for the imperial army, servants and storage areas. It was built out of stone from the island of Brac, and decorative details such as the sphinx, marble, and sculpted decorations were brought from Egypt, Italy, and Greece.

Considering that the palace was distanced 6km from the closest city (Salona), it was surrounded by 16 stone walls. There were four entrances into the palace, three from land and one by sea. The south side looking onto the sea (where in the time of the emperor Diocletian the sea splashed into the palace itself), it had less openings and doors than the east and west side, which were similar and undecorated. The northern entrance with double doors was the main entrance into the palace. Of the two main roads (cardo and decumanus), cardo leads to the peristyle (the open square in front of the emperors chambers). On the left had side was the emperors mausoleum (today St. Dujam's Cathedral), and on the right hand side were three temples. The main temple was the temple of Jupiter (which is preserved) and the other two Kibel and Venus. The vestibule today still looks fantastic. This foyer of the emperors’ chambers once had a great dome, and even up to half a century ago was inhabited.

Buildings of different historical eras and styles were very well preserved, such as Diocletian's palace which kept its core preserved until today. Over time the palace was transformed into a city, where objects such as the emperors’ mausoleum were converted into a cathedral. The cathedra was initially dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but by the end of the Middle Ages was renamed to the martyr of Salona and patron saint of Split - Sv. Dujam. Diocletian's palace may be one of the only cultural monuments in the world in which people still live. The well preserved Peristyle, Diocletian's mausoleum, the temple of Jupiter, early Christian churches, Romanesque houses, works of the sculptor Juraj Dalmatinac and many other monuments testify to the rich history of this city.

UNESCO heritage

Diocletian's Palace in Split

Euphrasius Basilica in Porec

Historic city of Trogir

St. Jacobs Cathedral in Sibenik

Dubrovnik

The Plitvice Lakes

Stari Grad Plain

Nature parks
National parks