Croatia 2 - Split 2

January 29, 2026

Croatia 2 - Split 2

We had a whole day to explore inside and around the Old Town of Split. First of all we walked for approximately 15 minutes to have a breakfast at Mendula, a charming breakfast/brunch/lunch restaurant, located north-east outside of the Old Town.

J had omelette with vegetables and cheese. It looked like a giant pillow!

I had a slice of banana bread. It tasted pretty good but it was relatively small.

Therefore I ordered another piece. Why not?

We walked back to the Old Town. There was a market outside of the Eastern (Silver) Gate. It wasn't much to see, though. Maybe it was during the off-season or I have been spoiled too much by the prominent farmer's market in Wiesbaden.

Then we reached the waterfront known as the Riva Promenade. We were there the day before.

We entered the Brass Gate that was directly connected with the Basement Halls of Diocletian's Palace.

In the Roman times, the Basement Halls (60 in total) were actually substructures designed to elevate the Emperor's chambers on the floor above, as the palace was built into a slope. The halls are in fact located on the ground floor. They were not only built to keep the Emperor's chambers above sea level but also creating a passage to the sea as well as providing spaces for storage.

We found a model that showed you what the Palace would have looked like. Built between the late 3rd and the early 4th centuries AD, the Diocletian's Palace was his retirement house. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus served as a Roman emperor more than 20 years (284-305 CE). When he was around 60 years old, he decided to retire and grow vegetables in his native Dalmatia. He was the first and only emperor to voluntarily abdicate and retire to private life. He was born in the ancient city of Salona (now modern-day Solin). At the time, Salona was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Today Solin is a suburb of Split, only 6-7 km away. Diocletian would have thought that the location of Split as a part of his home town.

The Palace was designed as a combination of a luxurious imperial villa and a military fortress. Unlike many Roman ruins, the Palace was never abandoned; it has been adapted over centuries. The site of the Palace is recognized as the Old Town today, uniquely blending Roman, Venetian, medieval architecture all together. We stepped out of the basement halls and started walking through white limestone alleys.

We visited Jupiter's Temple, hidden away in a narrow alleyway. Built between 295 and 305 AD, it was originally a Roman temple to honor Emperor Diocletian's "divine father" Jupiter. The temple was transformed into the Baptistery of St. John in the 6th century. The green door was closed at that time. We peeked through the hole in the door. There was a statue inside. It must be the statue of St. John the Baptist. The black granite statue in front of the temple was a headless 5th century BC sphinx imported from Egypt.

The Peristyle, the central square of the Palace might be the most famous spot in the Old Town. It used to be the formal entrance way to the Central Hall of Diocletian's palace. Although the original Roman architecture is no longer intact, the square has been reconstructed using Roman architectural details.

There was another black granite sphinx in the Peristyle. Emperor Diocletian brought 12 sphinxes from Egypt to Split around 297 AD to decorate his palace. This one, dating to Pharaoh Thutmose III (3,500 years old), was the only sphinx mostly intact, having survived religious destruction in the Middle Ages. The headless sphinx in front of Jupiter's Temple, which we just visited, was also one of the twelve. Pieces of others are kept in local museums. The black granite sphinx stands out among the white stone buildings.

The early 4th century mausoleum was converted into the Cathedral of St. Domnius in the 7th century and is considered the oldest Catholic cathedral in the world that remains in use in its original structure.

We climbed up the of the Cathedral's bell tower, which was originally built in the 13th century in Romanesque style and later heavily restored. Here was the entrance to the bell tower. Less than 200 steps to great panoramic views of Split!

Then we visited the cathedral, passing by the impressive Romanesque wooden doors.

Although the area we could access was limited, the original octagonal structure of the mausoleum was noticeable.

At the southern end of the Peristyle, just above the basement stairs, is the Vestibule. The circular hall is an ancient antechamber that was used to enter the Emperor's residential part of the Palace.

A huge Christmas tree stood in the middle. It was decorated with garlands of circular cards that were drawn by children.

We kept wandering in the Old Town. The Silver Gate (the Eastern Gate) was there.

We stopped by Nadalina chocolate, an artisanal chocolate shop in the Old Town. Located in Solin, Diocletian's birthplace near Split, their factory produce "bean-to-bar" chocolate, combining high-quality cocoa with local Dalmatian ingredients like olive oil, lavender, and figs. We bought four flavors of their signature chocolate bars. They tasted nice while all the flavors were subtle.

This was the Golden Gate (the Northern Gate).

And this was the Iron Gate (the Western Gate). We checked all the four principal Roman gates of the Palace. The Old Town wasn't huge. We walked though or glanced at the gates several times.

The stone arms sticking out on the upper wall inside of the Iron Gate caught my eye. I still don't know what they were...

The Roman Gates didn't necessarily mark the end of the Old Town atmosphere because stone alleys and buildings were extended beyond the border of the ancient Palace.

We walked around a residential neighborhood that spreads out on the hill to the west of the old town. It's one of the oldest area of Split, where winding alleyways, traditional stone houses, and a well-preserved medieval church are found.

At the foot of the hill, near the waterfront, was a restaurant called Konoba Fetivi. We decided to have a lunch there.

Their specialty was seafood. Our server brought several kinds of fresh fish on a large plate to our table and explained what were available on the day. The fish looked nice but we ordered two dishes on their menu. One was Black Risotto (Crni Rižot), a signature Dalmatian dish, featuring Arborio rice cooked with cuttlefish (or squid), white wine, olive oil, garlic, and cuttlefish ink. It was very flavorful.

The other was octopus and chickpea stew, another classic Dalmatian dish. It was delicious, too!

We also had cooked swiss chard as a side dish. Garlicky and tasty.

We needed to walk more after the rich and satisfying lunch...

The tall (8.5 m or 28 ft) and dramatic bronze statue of Bishop Grgur Ninski stood right outside of the Golden Gate. He is regarded as a historical defender of Croatian culture and statehood who promoted the national language into religious services in the 10th century, when Latin was the dominant language of the Church.

We found a bench in the Park Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, a city park nearby the statue and talked about where to go next. We had explored in and around the Old Town pretty much by then. Since we hadn't had desserts yet, we decided to go to Cookie Lab, a pastry shop/cafe that I was interested in. It was located south-east of the Old Town, about 30 minute walk away. Well, we had enough time and we like a walk.