The city under Marjan hill, one of the many ways that locals like to call Split. The town that is more than one and a half millenia old. . . and not by a small margin. So what does this 1700 year old place have to offer? Well, a lot! The main attraction is obviously the Diocletian's Palace. It is a Roman fortress/summer house that the Roman Emperor Diocletian built fo himself when he was about to retire. Yes, the man retired from being a Roman Emperor, and what is even more interesting they begged him to take the job back because he was so good at it. As it stands he was an amazing emperor altough i must add that he was also responsible for the largest and bloodiest persecution of Christians in Roman history. The Palace itself is the only one of its kind in the entire world that is preserved to this day. Along with its Roman architecture the interior is filled with tiny stone houses that have been built into it over the centuries. Some may say that this ruins the clean Roman design but it is a wonder in itself because the end result is a maze of masonry and it gives it so much character. The promenade runs along the Palace's seaward walls and you will find it vibrant and full of life at any given time of day. The old town isnt just the Palace itself, it spreads all around it and stretches in all directions, most notably towards and upwards the Marjan hill, which as they say was a tiny volcano when it sprouted up. Along the coast of the hill is another promenade that takes you to a large marina and a grassy park next to it. After that the shore is riddled with beaches and rocky shore. As far as beaches are concerned there is a whole lot of them all along the coast of the town save for the ferry port which is the largest in southern Adriatic and is a hub for maritime transport in Dalmatia. This goes well in hand with the airport that is located about half an huor from Split in a place called Kastela which is actually seven tiny towns so close to each other that they have officially been incorporated into one (each ones name starts with Kastel so the name Kastela is actually a plural). Back to the town of Split the possibilities here are numerous and you can find literally anything you want to enjoy your time here. There are numerous restaurants all across the town, most of which are local quisine. They range from expensive places (altogh not insanely) to very affordable ones but all of them seem to be nice as the food is mostly produced locally and always fresh. An interesting feature in town are the local fast foods. There is quite a large number of them and the locals seem to be very fond of them. They are not your usual big franchise things but something more of a family businesses. The food in them is very cheap and plentiful and there is always something for everybody. Having said that there are also a few ''traditional american'' (if you know what i mean) burger places in shopping malls arund town. The traditional restaurans here are called ''konoba'' locally and are something akin to a tavern. This is the case throughout coastal Croatia although they differ considerably depending on which part of the coast you are in. In the old town they are numerous and the food there as well as wine and some stronger drinks are locally or even home made. The architecture of the town along with the old Roman is mostly Italian influenced as the town was for many centuries either directly or indirectly administered by the Byzantine empire and the Venetian empire. After the fall of Venice it shortly belong to Napoleon's French empire, but it was very significant because a lot of infrastructure was built at that time as was the case for the whole of Dalmatia including the islands. The accomodation in the town is very diverse from hostels to apartments to hotels of all kinds including the five star ones. The most common ones are the apartments especially in the old town and Marjan hill. Althogh very numerous and fairly available the available accomodation does ''dry up'' so to speak for a few days every year. This is due to the Ultra festival that takes place on the city stadium for the last couple of years. The town gets a little hectic for those few days but it quickly settles in its pace. The nightlife is concentrated along the coast from the marina under Marjan all across the old town to Bacvice sandy beach and beyond. There is always something for all tastes and there does not seem to be any kind of curfew so most of the places are open untill morning especially during the summer. The main promenade called Riva, with Matejuska old fisherman harbour, hosts live performances throughout the summer. Aside from being well conected with the airport and ferry port the main highway runs close to Split but the traffic through town can get clogged easily, primarily the approach to the harbor. All sorts of tours and outdoor activities start from Split some take place in and around the town itself others take you either to the islands or the interior of Dalmatia. If you desire a completely different ambient that Split provides, we recommend that you take the Three Caves Tour starting from Split with us, a real trip to remember. Sightseeing is concentrated mostly in and around the old town but you won't find a shortage of beautiful things to see. The rest of the town is also very nice and pleasent. If you like nice relaxing walks there are miles to be explored. The commotion of the city center is conviniently offset by the serenity of Marjan hill which has endless trails through the forrest and a sightseeing place called ''prva vidilica'' which gives you the most majestic panorama of Split. Weather you are here to stay for a few days or just passing through on your way to or from an island be sure to check it out as much as you can because you will definitely take some fond memories and beatuifil photos back home.

Source: Ilirio's

Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings, Split's greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands and the Apennine peninsula. Split is one of the oldest cities in the area. While traditionally considered just over 1,700 years old, counting from the construction of Diocletian's Palace in 305 CE, the city was in fact founded as the Greek colony of Aspalathos in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. It became a prominent settlement around 650 CE, when it succeeded the ancient capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia, Salona: as after the Sack of Salona by the Avars and Slavs, the fortified Palace of Diocletian was settled by the Roman refugees. Split became a Byzantine city, to later gradually drift into the sphere of the Byzantine vassal, the Republic of Venice, and the Croatian Kingdom, with the Byzantines retaining nominal suzerainty. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, caught in the middle of a struggle between Venice and the King of Hungary for control over the Dalmatian cities. Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Eventually, its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, and in 1806, it was included directly in the French Empire, becoming part of the Illyrian Provinces in 1809. After being occupied in 1813, it was eventually granted to the Austrian Empire following the Congress of Vienna, where the city remained a part of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia until the fall of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and the formation of Yugoslavia. During World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia. The city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Federal Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991 Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence.

Source: Wikipedia