Split heritage
In the early Middle Ages the town was built within Diocletian's Palace. Commercial prosperity of the 13th and the 14th centuries spurred a more intense construction; the town spread outside the Palace, and a new centre developed along the western walls of the Palace which was fortified in the 14th century, and in the 17th century a new defence system with projecting bastions, constructed by A. Magli, was erected. Field labourers quarters Veli Varos and Lucac developed to the north and the east of the town, which later merged with the nucleus of the old town into a whole. Between the two World Wars the city expanded over the southern slopes of Marjan and to the eastern part Bacvice, where a modern part of the city was constructed. During the Second World War Split was heavily bombed, particularly the coastal part southeast of the Palace of Diocletian (today's park). Since the 1950s Split has been characterized by a sudden spatial expansion (new blocks, the so-called Split III and other).
1. The Old Town (Grad). The oldest nucleus of Split is located within the walls of Diocletian's Palace. According to its dimensions and level of preservation, the Palace represents the most valuable example of Roman architecture on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It was constructed around AD 300 and has a rectangular ground-plan. Its form and arrangement of the buildings within the Palace represent a transitional style of an imperial villa, Hellenistic town and Roman camp. The southern, seaward side of the Palace (181 m long), with subsequent annexes, can be viewed from the coast. The Brass Gate (Porta Aenea), a vaulted passage leading from the sea into the interior of the Palace, are in the middle of the southern side. To the left is the entrance into the cellars of Diocletian's Palace, with a system of corridors and halls under the southern parts of the Palace which can be visited by tourists. Walking along the eastern side of the Palace one reaches the Silver Gate (Porta Argentea) with the church of St. Dominic on the opposite side, which was first mentioned in the 13th century. Its present aspect dates from 1682, and it was reconstructed between 1932 and 1934; it contains Baroque altars, the paintings representing the Miracle in Surian (Jacopo Palma the Younger) and The Apparition in the Temple (Palma's school), and a wooden Gothic cross. Through the Silver Gate one reaches the Plain of King Tomislav. Passing by the small Renaissance church of St. Roch (Rocco) (1516) one arrives to the Peristyle (Peristil), the central open-air area of the Palace. Its longitudinal sides are surrounded by an arched colonnade; the arches in the west are closed by Gothic and Renaissance houses. A monumental port with four columns carrying a gable closes the Peristyle in the south. Between the columns of the entrance two chapels were built in, Our Lady of the Belt (1544) and Our Lady of Conception (1650). The mausoleum of Diocletian, today's Cathedral of St. Doimus (Dujam) (dedicated to St. Mary) lies in the eastern part of the Peristyle. The mausoleum has almost completely preserved its original octagonal form, encircled by 24 columns (peripteral) which were bearing the roof; the interior is round, with two rows of Corinthian columns and a frieze (medallions with figures of Emperor Diocletian and his wife Prisca). A dome, once covered with mosaics, roofs the mausoleum. The monumental wooden gateposts (reliefs with scenes from the life of Christ), a work by Andrija Buvina (1214), and the stone pulpit from the 13th century represent the oldest monuments in the Cathedral. The altar on the right, with a late Gothic baldachin, was made by Bonino da Milano (1427). The vault above the altar is decorated with mural paintings, a work by Dujam Vuskovic (15th c.). the altar of St. Anastasius (Stas), made by George of Dalmatia (Juraj Dalmatinac) in 1448 is to the left (the predella features an excellent central scene of the Flagellation). The chapel in the northern wall accommodates the Baroque altar of St. Doimus, a work by the Venetian sculptor G. M. Morlaiter (1767); the vault of the chapel is decorated with paintings by M. Capogrossa. The main altar dates from the 13th century; the vault above it is ornamented with paintings by M. Poncun; a wooden Gothic cross from the 14th century rises above the altar. The choir, constructed in the 18th century, is furnished with Romanesque seating from the 13th century (the oldest in Dalmatia) and ornamented with a painting re-presenting the Mother of God with the saints and donors, a work by J. Palma the Younger, as well as with Baroque paintings by M. Poncun. A crypt lies under the Cathedral. A building with a sacristy and treasury leans on the Cathedral. The treasury keeps a collection of gold artefacts and mass vestments from the Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque per-iods; the most valuable pieces include a ciborium from 1522, the 8th-century evangelistary (the oldest manuscript in the country), the 11th-century Supetar chartulary and Historia Salonitana by Thomas the Archdeacon from the 13th century. Three Romanesque reliefs from the 13th century were built into the foot of the belfry towards the main entrance; the peripteral construction accommodates several sarcophagi from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The Romanesque belfry was erected between the 12th and the 16th centuries, collapsed at the end of the 19th century and reconstructed in 1908. Two Romanesque lion figures lie at the foot of the belfry, and the right wall is decorated with an Egyptian black granite sphinx (15th c. BC).
A small temple rises opposite the mausoleum, probably dedicated to Jupiter, turned into the baptistery in the early Middle Ages. Only the closed part of the temple (cella) with a richly decorated portal has been preserved; the interior is roofed with a barrel coffered vault. The baptismal font was framed with stone plates in the 19th century, decorated with "pleter" - interlacery ornamentation (the central plate represents a figure of a Croatian ruler on the throne). The baptistery features the sarcophagus of Ivan Ravenjanin (following the tradition of the first archbishop of Split) from the 7th century and the statue of John the Baptist (Ivan Mestrovic). A Renaissance sarcophagus (1533) is in front of the baptistery. The foundations of the building in front of the baptistery contain a stone arch with the astragal motif (7th c.), the oldest known monument of mediaeval Split.
Diocletian's Street runs from the Peristyle to the north where the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea) rises; Agubio Palace, with a Gothic portal and inner yard is to the left. To the right, in Papaliceva Street, Papalic Palace (15th c.), the most important example of Gothic architecture in Split (richly ornamented portal, big tetrastyle on the southern end, original Gothic ceiling in the main hall) is located; architectonic details bear distinctive marks of Juraj Dalmatinac's workshop. The palace accommodates the Museum of the City of Split. A Romanesque house is immediately in front of the Golden Gate, to the left; its northern Gothic end is ascribed to Juraj Dalmatinac. A side-street leads through the stairs to the church of St. Martin, situated in a part of the hall above the Golden Gate; the church features a stone altar partition, with "pleter" (interlacery ornamentation) and an 11th-century inscription. The way through the Golden Gate leads to an open area, with the statue of Grgur Ninski (Gregory of Nin) rising on an elevation, erected in 1957 (Ivan Mestrovic, 1929). The little park northwest of the gate accommodated the remains of the church of St. Euphemia (first mentioned in 1069; collapsed in the fire of 1877), on which a Benedictine nuns' monastery used to lean. The foundations of a three-nave church (11th c.), the chapel of St. Arnir, built by Juraj Dalmatinac in 1445, and the belfry have been preserved.
Kresimir Street leads from the Peristyle to the Iron Gate (Porta Ferrea) in the west; Cindro Palace (17th c.), the most beautiful Baroque palace in Split, rises to the right. The hall in the wall above the Iron Gate houses the small church of Our Lady of the Belfry (Bar-oque altar, By--zan----tine icon dating from around the 11th c., wall paintings by Mene-ghello from 1412). The Ro-ma-nesque belfry (aro-und 1100) is the oldest one in Dalmatia. Through the Iron Gate one reaches the square Na-rodni Trg (Piaca), centre of the mediaeval commune and the liveliest sq-uare- of today's Split. A clock-tower (16th c.) rises above the Iron Gate, overlooking the squa-re. Of the Gothic ho-uses which used to close the northern end of the square only the Town Hall (1443), with a loggia in the ground floor, has survived; the first floor, expanded in 1820, was refurbished in neo-Gothic style at the end of the 19th century. The building houses the Ethnographic Museum (folk costumes from Dalmatia). To the right of the Town Hall, over a small bridge, the Renaissance Karepic Palace from the 16th century is situated, and the Gothic Cambi Palace from the 15th century is located in the north-western end of the square. The house in the south-western end has a relief depicting St. Anthony the Abbot (1394) built in the façade. Domald Street runs northwards, with a Renaissance portal from 1583 through which the way to the former church and monastery of St. Mary de Taurello leads; fragments of the Renaissance cloister ha-ve been preserved. Trogir Street branches off to the left of Domald Street, in which a small Gothic church of the Holy Spirit is situated, with a Romanesque relief featuring Christ on the Throne above the churchyard portal and the tomb of the sculptor Andrija Alesi. Subiceva Street runs from the western end of Narodni Trg to the south; the small late Gothic Papalic Palace (15th c.) is to the right, built by Juraj Dalmatinac, and the Baroque Tartaglia Palace lies further down the street. Su-biceva Street terminates on Braca Radic Square, with the Marko Marulic statue (Ivan Mestrovic) rising in the centre of the square. Milesi Palace, early Baroque, closes the northern end of the square, and the so-called Hrvoje's Tower, the remain of the Venetian citadel from the 15th century, rises in the south. Through the passage in the tower one reaches the coast.
2. Western part (Veli Varos, Marjan, Meje). A small square with the mo-nastery and church of St. Francis are situated on a small square in the western part of the coast. The monastery was established in the 13th century. The church, reconstructed in the 19th century, keeps a Gothic cross, Gothic -wooden sculpture of St. Lucia (15th c.), tombs of the historian Thomas the Archdeacon (around 1200-1268), the writers Marko Marulic (1450-1524) and Jerolim Kavanjin (1641-1714), and the composer Ivan Lukacic (1584- 1648) in the choir, as well as several Baroque paintings and sculptures. A Gothic cloister leans on the church. North of the church, on a slope of Marjan, lies Veli Varos, with its thick network of streets and picturesque scenery. From Krizeva Street to the left through the Stagnija, an interesting church, St. Nicholas (Mikula) from the 12th century is situated, and to the right of the cross-roads the parish church of the Holy Cross (17th c., expanded in the 19th c.) with a Baroque bell tower; the church has a painted Gothic cross, a Gothic sculpture of the Virgin Mary with Child as well as several Baroque paintings. Senjska Street leads along the slopes of Marjan to the Marjan Stairway, and then ascends mildly to the left (offering a beautiful view on the port of Split) to the church of St. Nich-olas dating from the 13th century. The stairs on the right run to the Natural Science Museum, with a zoological garden near it. From this point, the way leads to Marjan. The road descending westwards from the vista point on Marjan (about 1 km) reaches an expanded intersection (Sedlo); the small church of Our Lady of Bethlehem from the 15th century is further down to the right, on the top of a picturesque staircase. From the church, around the next bend, a road branching off westwards runs to the small church of St. Jerome (Jere) from the 15th century (a relief by A. Alesi); a former cave is situated near the church.
Along the promenade from the church of St. Francis the way leads to Hotel Marjan (designed by L. Perkovic) and then further to Split ACI Marina. A way branches off to the left leading to the picturesque small Sustipan peninsula, where once a Benedictine monastery (established around 1000, abandoned in the 14th c.) and the church of St. Stephen (ruins) used to stand.
At the beginning of the 19th century the cemetery and the classicist pavilion were erected. The present church of St. Stephan was built in 1814 (a Gothic polyptych from the 15th c. with the Nativity on the predella). Fragments originating from the early Romanesque and Romanesque churches were built in the church and the walls encompassing the graveyard. The road leads westwards through the part of the city called Meje. The Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments - the major institution of Croatian culture - is located to the right along Gunja-cina Street which runs to the Marjan Tunnel. The most distinguished of several villas found there is the Mestrovic Gallery.
The Mestrovic Citadel lies further to the west, along the lower end of the road, once a palace of the Capogrosso-Kavanjin families (17th c.). A chapel housing a cycle of Mestrovic's reliefs in wood is situated within the complex surrounded by a high wall. The road leads to Cape Marjan, where the Institute of Oceanography and Fishery and its aquarium are situated. On the way to the Institute one can see the ruins of an early mediaeval church of St. Jerome, built probably on the remains of an ancient temple.
3. Northern part (Dobri, Poljud). Marmontova Street runs from the western end of the Coast of the Croatian National Revival to the north, where the Bulatova Poljana lies; Splitske Toplice, a thermal bath, is to the right, and the wall of a 17th-century bastion is to the left. The Luka Botic monument (Ivan Mestrovic) stands on the Poljana. The western end of the square is closes by the building of the Croatian National Theatre (1893), and the northern with the church of Our Lady of Health (1937, architectural design by L. Horvat; fresco by I. Dulcic); the 17th-century belfry used to be part of an earlier church. Zrinsko-Frankopanska Street runs behind the theatre to the north, and Lovretska Street, with the Art Gallery and the Archaeological Museum further left, branches off to the right. The interesting pre-Romanesque small church of the Holy Trinity, with a six-foil ground-plan, lies not far from the Park of the Youth, which can be reached by passing a block of new houses. The large Hajduk football stadium, in form of a shell, of bold structures, one of the most original constructions of the kind in the world, is opposite of the church. Swimming pools are located by the st-adium as well as the Poljud monastery. The church dating from the 15th century possesses a Gothic (15th c.) and a Baroque cross (Fulgencije Bakotic), and a polyptych by Girolamo da Santacroce (1549). The Renaissance cloister accommodated tombstones of the Split patrician families. The monastery keeps the portrait of the Split humanist Tomo Niegro (Lorenzo Lotto, 1527) and two bands of chorales with illuminations by Bono Razmilovic (17th c.).
4. Eastern part (Lucac, Bacvice). Railway and bus terminals as well as the ship and ferry port facilities are located on the Kneza Domagoja Coast. A massive lighthouse, with a relief by Andre Krstulovic, rises on the forested elevation at the end of the port. The way from Diocletian's Palace over the bridge above the railway leads to the "Bishop's" Palace in neo-Renaissance style. -Kralja Zvonimira Street runs from the Palace to the east, accommodating the monastery and church of St. Clare the monastery holds a Romanesque crucifix (13th c.), several icons as well as Renaissance and Baroque paintings by Venetian masters. The former suburb Lucac, with its narrow, steep alleys and picturesque blocks of irregularly shaped houses, is to the north of the Bishop's Palace. The Gripe fortress, erected in the 17th century, is on the top of the elevation. The Bacvice quarter, famous for its recently reconstructed public beach and Hotel Park, lies east of the railway station.
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