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!
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| 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.
