Split: Diocletian's Palace (UNESCO)

Diocletian's Palace in Split, one of the best-kept examples of Roman architecture in the world, has been under UNESCO protection since 1979. The emperor's palace was built between 295 and 305 B.C. as a combination of luxury villas and roman military camps (castruma), divided in four parts by two main streets. The southern part of this complex was intended for the emperor and the northern part for the royal army, the servants and storage rooms. The palace was built from stone found on the island of Brac, and decorative details such as the Sphinx, the marble and the sculptures were brought over from Egypt, Italy and Greece.

The palace was located just 6km from the nearest settlement - Salona (Solin) - and was surrounded by 16 stone walls. It had 4 entrances, 3 land and one sea entrance. The southern part of the palace, with views of the sea (where in the time of Emperor Diocletian the sea water even splashed into the palace), had less doors and openings that the east and west side.

The northern entrance, with its double doors, was also the main entrance into the palace. Of the two main roads (cardo and decumanus), cardo lead directly to the 'peristyle', the open square situated opposite the emperor's quarters. On the left side you could find the 'Emperor's Mausoleum' (nowadays the 'St Dujam Cathedral'), on the right side there were three temples. The main temple was the Temple of Jupiter (has remained completely intact) and the other two temples were called Kibel and Venus. The entrance to the temples has kept a lot of its former splendour. The foyer of the emperor's quarters was once sheltered by an large dome, and was even inhabited up to some 50 years ago.

During the years the palace was transformed into a city of its own, and objects such as the mausoleum were transformed into a cathedral. The cathedral was originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary, but at the end of the Middle Ages its was renamed after the 'Martyr of Salona' and the saint-protector of Split - 'St Dujam'. The Palace of Diocletian is one of the few cultural monuments that is still inhabited by residents. The well-preserved Peristyle, the mausoleum of Diocletian, the temple of Jupiter, early Christian churches, Roman houses, works of sculptor Juraj Dalmatinac and many other monuments stand testament to the rich history of this city.