Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Dubrovnik is the darling of the Dalmatian Coast, but Split (pronounced as it's spelled) is
Croatia's “second city” (after Zagreb), bustling with 178,000 people. If you've been hop-
ping along the coast, landing in urban Split feels like a return to civilization. While most
Dalmatian coastal towns seem made for tourists, Split is real and vibrant—a shipbuilding
city with ugly sprawl surrounding an atmospheric Old Town, which teems with Croatians
living life to the fullest.
Though today's Split throbs to a modern, youthful beat, its history goes way back—all
the way to the Roman Empire. Along with all the trappings of a modern city, Split has some
of the best Roman ruins this side of Italy. In the fourth century
A.D.
, the Roman Emperor
Diocletian (245-313) wanted to retire in his native Dalmatia, so he built a huge palace here.
Eventually,thepalacewasabandoned.Thenlocals,fleeingseventh-centurySlavicinvaders,
moved in and made themselves at home, and a medieval town sprouted from the rubble of
theoldpalace.Inthe15thcentury,theVenetianstookovertheDalmatianCoast.Theydeve-
loped and fortified Split, slathering the city with a new layer of Gothic-Renaissance archi-
tecture.
