We had never been to Croatia so when we realised flights to Split had started up we booked 4 nights away. The weather was well above average for Easter averaging 26 degrees Centigrade each day. It's a place that is set up for tourists in its Roman centre, with plenty of souvenier shops within the old town. The old town is essentially in the Roman Emperor Diocletian's former palace, a fair amount of which is still there in its original form
There was a good range of snow globes to choose from and we settled for the two below seen from front and back
The first shows the cathedral belfrey and next to it the former tomb of Diocletian now turned into a catholic church. The mausoleum was built while Diocletian was still alive in the 4th century and signified his divine origins as he was considered to be the son of Jupiter.
In 653 the mausoleum was consecrated by the first bishop of Split, St Domnius and has been the city’s cathedral ever since. It is the oldest Catholic cathedral that is still housed in its original building which has not undergone major renovations. The temple’s bell tower was constructed much later, around 1100 AD, but its Romanesque style enabled it to match the original architecture. We got some great views across the city and the Adriatic Sea when we climbed to the top.
The big guy on the base is Gregory of Nin. He introduced the Croatian language into religious services in 926, as the people could not understand Latin, making Christianity stronger in Croatia. The statue's toe is shiney from all the rubbing it gets which is supposed to bring good luck.
The bell tower and mausuleum seen at day and night. The view from the top of the tower over Split, and Gregory himself.
This second globe contains a typical Croatian church. We climbed up the nearby Marjan Hill for the views and to see the Church of St. Nicholas the Traveler built in the 13th century
It was quite easy to climb the steps up the hill to the church. The views over the Adriatic islands were well worth it. There is a nearby cafe with more views from the terrace over Split itself. We never found the nearby ancient Jewish cemetary though, which would have been interesting. Neither did we have the energy to climb to the top of Marjan Hill for the full vistas.
This montage shows a selection of souvenier shops including a market containing souvenier stalls. Yes, there is a Christmas shop, playing festive music all year around and a plastic duck shop - another quirky item for peope to collect. Most globes contained the bell tower and cathedral, with the more generic ones containing assorted sailors, dolphins and whales.
The Split water front with the bell tower and the front of the Diiocletian Palace remains. On an evening lots of people walk around eating ice creams from the various local shops. We tried cheesecake, strawberry and cream, cherry yogurt, kinder surprise, chocolate, oriol, etc flavours during our time there.
