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West Africa, Malta and the Balkans in 1999
CROATIA
Bec2004-09-19 14:40:02
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Split
After my accident in Ljubljana, I considered spending a couple of days in my hotel room to rest my sprained ankle but reading about Split in my guidebook gave me the urge to see Diocletian's palace and I got on the night bus to come here instead. That was a mistake for walking on it made it progressively worse. Finally I could barely walk and had to return to Montreal prematurely, missing Albania and Macedonia.
Diocletian's Palace occupies the south half of a large Roman fortress of 215 by 180 meters, the other half holding barracks for the garrison. The enclosure has been continuously occupied and modified since its construction around 300 AD. Now, it hides behind this row of shops facing the harbour seen in the previous picture.
Most Roman ruins have been destroyed, abandoned or made into museums but the Roman ruins here have been continuously lived in for 17 centuries! That is something to think about while having an expresso in this outdoor cafe in the Peristyle or strolling through the narrow streets of what used to be a Roman town. In Roman times, Kresimirova ul. on the left below separated the Palace from the barracks area and Bagamontijeva ul. on the right bordered the western wall in the barracks area.
Immediately west of the Roman enclosure lies the medieval town of Split with its old City Hall on Narodni square. Its streets are just as narrow and charming as you can see below. On the left, me with Gordan Salanovic, the owner of a bookshop that provided internet access in Kruziceva ul.
In Split I stayed here in the home of Ivanica Balov who was waiting for customers at the bus station when I arrived.
By now my ankle was giving me a hard time, taking the pleasure out of my adventure.
Copyright Bernard Cloutier
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See photographs from:
Croatia Gallery
