The Peristyle
The ceremonial heart of the former imperial complex is now one of the city’s most atmospheric public spaces.
01 / THE LIVING CITY
THE SPLIT EDIT / 01
A Roman palace.
A living city.
In Split, history is not kept behind a velvet rope. It is the address on a front door, the stone beneath a café table, the route to the morning market.
A CITY BUILT INSIDE A PALACE
Seventeen centuries in the making.
1700+
Around the turn of the fourth century, Emperor Diocletian commissioned a vast seaside palace. Its Roman plan still shapes the heart of Split. But its most remarkable chapter began later: the palace never stopped being used.
Homes, workshops, churches, markets and terraces gradually filled the imperial walls. That is why the historic centre feels alive rather than staged. Look up. Look down. Every passage has another century to tell.
43°30′ NPALACE & PEOPLE · SPLIT
FOUR PLACES, FOUR STORIES
Follow the layers.
The Cathedral of St Domnius
Once Diocletian’s mausoleum, this remarkable monument embodies Split’s changing identity.
Palace substructures
Explore vaulted Roman chambers beneath the palace, a striking survival of its original layout.
Varoš & Marjan
Step beyond the palace to traditional lanes and the green hill that gives Split its most generous viewpoints.
THE SLOW WALK
From Roman stone
to the open sea.
Enter through the Golden Gate, pause in the Peristyle, wander into the intimate lanes of the old town, and emerge onto the Riva. Continue towards Matejuška, Varoš and the first Marjan viewpoint. It is a short walk across many versions of Split.
Pair history with a weekend ↗