Split,
A city for the past, present, and future
Located between the sea and the mountains, Split is primarily a city
of history before being a tourist town. Timeless city par excellence,
people come to discover Split and leave Split with the desire to
return. But why this city fascinates tourists and its citizens?
To better understand this fascination, we must first go back to the history of Split. City over a thousand years, she even
celebrated its 1700 years in 1995. His story began in the time or the Greeks had settled on the Dalmatian coast. It is partly
named after Aspalatos (his name in Greek), but the name of Spalato remain in textbooks and history.
Before Roman rule takes possession of Split, so it was the Greeks who lived in this small fishing village. Real life Spalato
began when the Emperor Diocletian, a native of the town of Salona (located a few kilometers from Spalato) decided to settle
his "retirement home" and instead of this fishing port, he build a palace, so big that an entire city could settle within its walls.
By building this palace, the last great emperor of the Roman Empire of the West, did not imagine that his palace will become
the second Croatian town in the 20th century because of its population and its economy, after Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.
This palace, whose construction began in the 3rd century AD, is the foundation of the present city of Split that we know
today.
Covering an area equal to six football fields, this palace was a city unto itself.
(see our article "Diocletian's Palace")
Some 300 years after the death of the
Emperor Diocletian, were in fact the people
of Salona that will give meaning to the name
of the palace. They therefore invest the palace
so Avars and Slavs flee the invaders who
destroyed their city Salona. By investing this
palace, they began making modifications to
be able to live there. Over the years, and a
rising population, life was organized first in
the palace and outside the palace.
Vue du ciel de la vieille ville
Split begin to be so important that under the Byzantine domination, the Dalmatian town gained its independence and,
because its geographical position and its proximity to the sea, began to prosper and become a fishing port, and over the years,
one of the important trade port of the Mediterranean and today Croatia.
During the 15th century Split was conquered by the
Republic of Venice, the Venetian dominance signifying
prosperity, Split continues to flourish. To guard against the
Turkish invasions, he built their walls. The Venetian mind is
now always visible and well preserved in Split, it is even
one of the prides of Splitois recognizable by its Venetian
architecture and the way they live.
Vénitian Palace of Split
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