Quick answer: Split began around 300 AD as the retirement palace of the Roman emperor Diocletian. In the 7th century, refugees from nearby Salona moved inside its walls and turned it into a town. After that came Croatian kings, Hungarian-Croatian kings, almost 400 years of Venice, a short French chapter under Napoleon, a century of Austria, Yugoslavia and, since 1991, Croatia. Almost all of it is still standing in the old town, often in the same square.
When people walk into Split’s old town for the first time, they see Roman columns, a medieval bell tower, Venetian windows and an Austrian square within a few minutes, and it feels like a jumble. It’s not. It’s one story, and once you hear it in order, the whole city clicks.
This is the short version of the story I tell on my walking tour. I’m originally from Bosnia, so I’ll also show you where Split fits into the bigger Balkan picture, because that’s usually what people really want to ask. 🙂
1. The emperor who quit (around 300 AD)
Diocletian was born near Salona, the Roman capital of the province of Dalmatia, a few kilometres from today’s Split. He worked his way up through the army, became emperor in 284, pulled a collapsing empire back together, and then did something no Roman emperor had done before: in 305 he retired. Voluntarily.
He built himself a palace on the coast to retire in. It was really a small fortified town: four walls, four gates, two main streets crossing in the middle, temples, his own mausoleum and private apartments facing the sea.
Where you see it today: the Peristyle, the Vestibule, the cellars under the palace, Jupiter’s Temple and the four gates. My Diocletian’s Palace guide goes through each of them.
2. Refugees move into the palace (7th century)
After Diocletian died, the palace stayed imperial property and later passed to Byzantium. Then, in the 7th century, Avars and Slavs destroyed Salona. The survivors ran to the strongest walls they could find: Diocletian’s. They built homes between the columns, in the corridors, on top of the walls. A palace became a town, and it has been one ever since.
They also did something I love telling people about. They turned the emperor’s mausoleum into a church and dedicated it to Saint Domnius, a bishop Diocletian had executed. And his sarcophagus? Out.
Where you see it today: the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, and houses built straight into the Roman walls. If you’re wondering where the city’s name comes from, I wrote a whole post on why Split is called Split.
3. Croatian kings and a bishop with a shiny toe (9th–11th centuries)
Croats settled the coast and the hinterland, and over time the town inside the palace and the Croatian rulers around it grew together. The giant at the Golden Gate belongs to this chapter: Gregory of Nin, a 10th-century bishop who fought to keep the Croatian language in church. Funny enough, the church councils that ruled against him were held right here in Split.
His statue is by Ivan Meštrović. It first stood on the Peristyle in 1929, was taken down during the Italian occupation in 1941, and has stood outside the Golden Gate since 1954. Rub his toe for luck. Everyone does.
Where you see it today: Gregory of Nin, and tiny early medieval churches squeezed into the palace, like St Martin’s in the old guard corridor above the Golden Gate.
4. Hungarian-Croatian kings and a town with its own rules (12th–14th centuries)
In 1102 Croatia entered a union with the Kingdom of Hungary. Split, like the other Dalmatian towns, accepted the Hungarian-Croatian kings but ran most of its own affairs, and in 1312 it wrote down its own laws in the Statute of Split. The town also started spilling out of the palace to the west, which is how Pjaca, the main square outside the Iron Gate, was born.
The Romanesque clock tower by the Iron Gate, on the Pjaca side, belongs to this chapter too. Look at its clock: it has 24 numbers instead of 12. (The clock itself was added later, in the 16th century.) Locals still arrange to meet “ispod ure”, under the clock.
Where you see it today: Pjaca (People’s Square) and the clock tower by the Iron Gate.
5. Venice (1420–1797)
In 1420 Split came under Venice and stayed there for almost 400 years. Venice was here for trade, not for the locals, so it’s not the most loved chapter. But it left Gothic and Renaissance palaces all over the old town, like the Papalić Palace, which is now the City Museum.
This is also the time of Marko Marulić, the Split writer called the father of Croatian literature. His poem Judita, written in 1501, is one of the first big works in the Croatian language. His statue, also by Meštrović, stands on the Fruit Square.
And while Venice held the coast, the Ottoman Empire was right behind the hills. Klis Fortress, which you can see from Split, fell to the Ottomans in 1537. Split was a frontier town for a long time.
Where you see it today: the Papalić Palace, the Venetian windows and coats of arms around Pjaca, Marulić on the Fruit Square, and Klis on the hill.
6. Napoleon’s short visit (1806–1813)
Then Venice fell, and after a few years of Austria, the French arrived. Dalmatia became part of Napoleon’s empire, run by Marshal Marmont. In just a few years the French built roads, opened schools and cleaned up the town. That’s why Split still has a Marmontova street, and why people here actually like Napoleon.
In Dubrovnik, though, better not bring him up. In 1808 the French abolished the Republic of Ragusa, which had been independent for centuries. Same Napoleon, very different memories, a few hours down the coast.
7. Austria (1813–1918)
After Napoleon, Austria came back and stayed for a century. This is when Split started to look like a modern city: the waterfront and the Prokurative square took their shape, and people started treating the Roman remains as something to study and protect, not just build on. It was also a time of a big fight over identity, with Croats pushing for Croatian over Italian in public life.
Where you see it today: the Riva, the Prokurative (Republic Square) and the 19th-century buildings around the old town.
8. Yugoslavia (1918–1991)
After World War I, Austria-Hungary collapsed and Split became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later called Yugoslavia. In World War II, Italy occupied and annexed Split (that’s when Gregory was taken off the Peristyle), and the partisans liberated the city in 1944.
In socialist Yugoslavia, Split grew fast: the shipyard, whole new neighbourhoods of apartment blocks, the 1979 Mediterranean Games. The same year, Diocletian’s Palace and the old town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This is the chapter guests have the most questions about. There’s a lot more to it than a blog post can carry, so bring your questions on the tour.
9. Croatia (1991 to today)
In 1991 Croatia declared independence, followed by a war that lasted until 1995. Since then Split has become one of the most visited cities on the Adriatic. Game of Thrones filmed in the palace cellars, cruise ships come in every summer morning, and people still hang their laundry between Roman columns. 1,700 years later, the palace is still lived in. That’s the whole point.
And why does Croatia get almost the whole coast?
My favourite question. Look at a map and Bosnia has just a tiny strip of coast at Neum, with Croatia on both sides of it. Blame (or thank) Dubrovnik. In 1699 the Republic of Ragusa let the Ottoman Empire have that strip on purpose, so that Venice’s land wouldn’t touch its border. A buffer zone. The border mostly stuck, and today Bosnia’s coast is only about 20 kilometres long.
That’s the short version. On the tour I’ll give you the long one, and if you want to know why we in the Balkans seem to fight all the time, ask me that too. 🙂 And if you’re wondering whether Croatia even counts as the Balkans, that’s its own story.
See it all in one walk
Most of these chapters stand within a few minutes of each other. On the Peristyle alone you get Roman granite columns from Egypt, a Romanesque bell tower and medieval and Renaissance houses built right into the colonnade. My tour follows this story in order, from Gregory of Nin at the Golden Gate to the Riva, so it’s easy to follow even if you don’t know any Croatian history.
- Walk it with me: the Split walking tour, 90 minutes, small groups of up to 15 people, €20
- Walk it on your own: the KUKUVIA audio guide on your phone, first stop free
- Read more: the “Pantheon” found under Diocletian’s mausoleum and how the palace ended up inspiring a street in London