About Split
Split is the closest thing in the world to a living Roman ruin: the city's entire historic core was built inside Emperor Diocletian's enormous waterfront palace, completed in AD 305 for his retirement. The original walls, the four monumental gates, the Peristyle square, the octagonal Mausoleum (now repurposed as the Cathedral of St Domnius, making it the oldest functioning cathedral in the world), and the underground cellars all survive — with around 3,000 people still living and working among them. The cellars (Game of Thrones fans will recognise them as Daenerys's dragon-keeping chambers) are now a small museum and craft market. Beyond the palace, the Riva promenade runs the length of the harbour, the Marjan forest park climbs the hill at the western end with paths, viewpoints, and small Romanesque chapels carved into the cliff, and the Mestrovic Gallery showcases the work of Croatia's most celebrated 20th-century sculptor in his own former villa. Split is also the natural gateway to the Dalmatian islands — ferries leave constantly for Hvar, Brač, Vis, and Korčula.