Croatia: Split - summer trip 2014

A Polish, an Italian, an English and a Hungarian go to Croatia. Oh yes, the months in an office made us long for seaside and freedom! After much debating and asking for information, we decided for Split: interesting city, beautiful beaches in the surroundings, affordable flats on Airbnb, reachable by car overnight. Last but not least, the National Park of Plitvice was (more or less) on the way back to Budapest!

From love-croatia.com

Croatia is looooong! We thought about going to Dubrovnik (the set of Game,of Thrones!) but Split was far enough for just a 4-day holiday. It is located in the south of the Croatian coast, on a small bay, protected by mountains behind and by the big islands of Brac and Hvar in front, among many others.

If you arrive from the inland highway, you will feel like you're slowly diving into a mundane and bad-looking mass of overgrown white residential buildings, but  the tiny city center in the palace of Diocletian is worth the trip. We were staying on the southern side of the hill of Marjan, the green lungs of the city, close by to the west. It took us around 20 minutes walking to get to the city center.

It was around 8pm on a Saturday night when we set off to explore the town. We approached it by the west quay, the catwalk of dreamy yachts. There was still light, illuminating the tower of the cathedral on the other side of the bay, the ugly residential buildings in the background and the high mountains even farther, but we were too busy planning to take over a yacht and starting a new life as rich pirates :D

Long story short of Split: roman emperor Diocletian retired there and built his palace in 305 AD. Later on, the city was dominated by the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian republic, the Ottoman empire, the Austro-Hungarian empire, and finally it was part of Yugoslavia within the Republic of Croatia. Yes, they were also independent from time to time.

Well, you can walk across the city center in 10 minutes (ok, 15, especially if you're fighting against the crowd), but you can see all of the architectonic styles proceding from these ages, and sometimes all in the same building. At the edge of the city center is the Prokurativ square, which looks like a mini Saint Mark in Venice. After that, a Medieval maze of tiny streets full of shops, homemade jewels, unique designer t-shirts, chocolate, bars and restaurants will start to challenge your sense of orientation. Reach the National Square (Narodni square) and enter Diocletian's palace through the Iron Gate and open your eyes: it's unbelievable.

The external wall was built by the square-minded and reliable Romans, but there are random arches over the vaults of the gates, and there are windows cut in the middle of the ancient wall. The white stones of the streets have been polished by centuries of travellers exploring the city, the streets are so crowded and yet so clean, and you are aware that they should be straight but the buildings are taking over, and there is an amazing smell of pizza pulling your nose here and there, but concentrate on your eyes! You can see the effects of time and imagine people of different ages, Romans with togas and noblemen of the Middle Ages and lords from Venice, all of them charmed by the grandiosity of the palace of the emperor, all of them firmly decided to take a piece of it to build their own house. The roman symmetry is lost in favor of creativity: new arches are built on top of the old ones but 20 centimeters to the right, others were bricked up and then opened again to fit a tiny window there, the streets become irregular and narrow until you have to "let people pass" before you can go yourself. And religion! Diocletian loved Egypt and imported lots of sculptures of mysterious black sphinxes, which were beheaded when Catholicism took over. The Catholics also turned his mausoleum into a cathedral, but the temple of Jupiter survived. Within the Palace there are also the third oldest Synagogue in Europe, an orthodox Christian church and Split's only mosque. 

The center of the palace is the Peristyl, a beautiful court where -of course- houses were built between the columns. In the evening you will find people sitting on the steps and musicians playing and entertaining. Also, take the stairs diving under the Peristyl to access a fascinating gallery full of handcrafted gifts and souvenirs, which exits to the Riva, the main seafront, another architectonic wonder. Standing over the Peristiyl is the symbol of the city, the tower of the cathedral (which originally was the Mausoleum, where Diocletian is buried: ironic how the tomb of a persecutioner of Christians became a place of worship!). From here, the best thing you can do is just to spend an hour or so wondering and getting lost. Let the city bring you to its most hidden corners, keep your eyes wide open and your camera ready: who knows what marvels you main stumble upon!

The magic of the city is painted with the amazing light that bounces from the clear blue sea in the clean air, travelling from the morning sharpness of the sun reflected on the polished white stones, to a warm and romantic evening shade, softly covering the alleys full of life, tables and exciting conversations. It is impossible not to be affected: it invites you, it stimulates you, it makes you crave for the perfect picture. During the day, the narrow alleys can be quite suffocating: escape to the Riva, the seafront, where the ancient connection of the city and sea is strongest, to relax and breathe. It takes no effort to imagine galleys and ships  bringing curious travellers, sailors and merchants to this charming town. But times changed: now you will see modern yacht built for extreme comfort, shiny tourism catamarans, and hidden to the right enormous ferries full of cars in their bellies ready to sail for Italy.

Just as it feels like a confusing maze at the beginning, it will take you a couple of visits to start finding your way around the center of Split. Our advice is to have a map, or a good memory, to take notes of the inviting restaurants and curious shops you will find, because there are so many! It's enjoyable and frustrating at the same time to walk on and on, even if the alley is so narrow it looks like a dead end -and usually it's not- only to decide that the bar you prefer was the one at the beginning. But no worries, there will always be a line of clothes drying, or a group of grandpas playing cards in the shade, to make you feel the value of exploring this Mediterranean jewel.

Our tools: a simple city map showing the city center and a wider view; a tourist newspaper called "Discover Split!" with a very detailed map of the Palace of Diocletian and tips on food and shops; the Use-it map by locals for young travellers, my favourite and most useful, I love the great combination of touristic and cultural highlights and must-see and the hidden and underground gems you would never find otherwise.