Monday, 12 April. After breakfast we drove the few blocks to Diocletian’s Palace (305 A.D.), arriving about 09:30. At first we didn’t even see the Palace although it was right in front of us. After the Palace was abandoned, the Roman inhabitants of nearby Salona, seeking refuge from invading Slavs, fled to the Palace and converted it to homes and shops, often building walls between columns and otherwise enclosing open spaces. We finally realized that most of the old edifices we were facing were neatly separated by regularly spaced Roman columns; the seeming jumble of separate structures was really the Palace! All we had to do was to find a way in.
This scale model (looking south) and aerial view (looking north) are really helpful in understanding the layout of the Palace. Unfortunately, we didn't have them at the time.
We entered through the southern gate (Porta Aenea) at the lower level and emerged at the Peristyle (courtyard surrounded by columns). As we were looking at the Cathedral (former mausoleum), we picked up a “volunteer” guide who insisted on showing us the Cathedral, Baptistry (Jove’s Temple), and Peristyle. After giving our guide a small tip, we wandered around the Palace on our own, going out the north gate (Porta Aurea), then back in and out of the west gate (Porta Ferrea). We walked around the north end of the Palace, then back in and toward the lower level where the boys had a ball running around and hiding from each other.
Afterward we bought some things for lunch and ate them in the market place east of the Palace.
Then we browsed the shops and bought a few carved walnut items ( a flute, a plate, and a small
spinning wheel). Larry and Dennis (our older boys) had already walked back to the hotel for a
swim, and we got the car and dropped Randall and Kevin there, too. Then the two of us drove out to Solin to see the ruins of ancient Salona. We expected to find it swarming with tourists, but it was completely deserted. In the total silence, the ruins were all the more impressive. Even so, as we walked the ancient lanes, a man came running from nowhere and collected the three dinar (20 cents) entrance fee.
Salona, just three miles from modern Split, was a thriving Roman colony and the
capital of Illyricum in the first century B.C. Titus, the pupil of St.
Paul, preached here, and this is where the first Christian martyrs were killed.
When Emperor
Diocletian retired in 305 A.D., he built a magnificent palace nearby. In
639 Salona was destroyed by invading Slavs, and its residents
fled to Diocletian's
Palace, which became the city of Spalato, now Split. Salona had been completely destroyed with nothing left standing, but work was underway to rebuild some of the walls on the original foundations. The large amphitheater was furthest along and most impressive. We were also treated to the sight of a man riding through the ruins on a small donkey, his feet nearly dragging on the ground.
On the way back into Split, we stopped at a department store and browsed through it. We bought a couple bottles of maraschino liqueur (from Zadar) at 22 dinars ($1.45) each. On reaching the hotel, we discovered that the boys had not been able to swim because dirty seawater had accidentally been pumped into the pool and it was covered with an oil slick. Again, we ate at the hotel, visited the casino for a while, and went to bed.
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