Split, Walking Tour and the Ferry to Otok Hvar

 

An artist's depiction of the original Palace.

The underground vaults.

The Cathedral bell tower.

An existing part of the Palace.

The entrance way, which was a trap for invaders, and an excellent place for singers to perform.

Outside the Golden Gate.

A transplanted Egyptian Sphinx.

Two happy centurions.

The clock tower.

Shayna walking up to the Jewish cemetery.

The view from the cemetery.

The ferry loading up to take us to Hvar.

Goodbye to beautiful Split.

The view of the harbour of Hvar Grad as we walked from our hotel to the restaurant.

Tuesday, October 1st.

This morning we had a walking tour through the heart of ancient Split with another excellent local guide, Luca, who gave us a wealth of information and insight into the turbulent history of this city and the country. We started with the cryptoporicus (underground vaults) of the ancient Roman palace built between 295 and 305 ce at Split, Croatia, by the emperor Diocletian as his place of retirement (he renounced the imperial crown in 305 and then lived at Split until his death in 316). He was not Roman, but became the Roman Emperor and most Roman Emperors never held the position for long because they often died or were murdered in office; so his building a huge retirement palace and actually living in it for a few years was very unique. Then we visited the Emperor Diocletian’s Mausoleum which he is no longer buried in. His body was removed and destroyed years after his death and replaced with one of his victims, a kind of unknown soldier. Then we visited the Church of St. Donatus and explored the ancient narrow streets still paved with the lustrous white stone of Brac Island. In the entrance way to the Palace (which used to be a trap for invaders who would be attacked by archers and boiling oil and flames) we listened to three excellent acapella singers performing here with its wonderful acoustics. We exited the Golden Gate of the palace to walk along the promenade of the harbour front. The promenade was built using stones from parts of the Palace that Napoleon destroyed in order to open up the city and provide more sun and fresh air into the narrow streets and help rid the city of illness as the bubonic plague had been rampant in the city for 500 years! Today the promenade is home to a number of restaurants and cafes and provides the locals and tourists with an excellent view of the harbour and the sea.

Shayna and I visited a 16th century synagogue (see the previous post). Then we hiked up a long series of steps through the city along the coast to get a spectacular view of the city of Split. We walked back to meet Amanda and the group.

Then we took a two hour ride on a large car ferry to one of the 78 islands of Croatia: Otok Hvar (Otok means island). En route we passed the island of Brac, which provided the lustrous white stone for the construction of the Cathedral of Sibenik, Diocletian's Palace at Split, the Cathedral of Liverpool, and the White House in Washington, DC., among other places. Otok Hvar receives 2,724 hours of sunshine per year, more than anywhere else in Croatia, and is thus called the "Island of the Sun". Greeks from Paros first settled on the island in the 4th century BC in Pharos, the modern town of Stari Grad, where our ferry docked before we reboarded the bus for a 30 minute drive to Hvar Grad. In the 13th century, the capital of the island was transferred to the town of Hvar (a mutation of Pharos in Slavic) and prospered during the 3.5 centuries of Venetian rule. This picturesque town and marina is alive with the constant hum of activity.

We had dinner together in a restaurant where we had an excellent view of the harbour. What a difference a day makes, this restaurant, meal and waiter were all much better than last night. We had fun with a wonderful young waiter while eating a delicious meal. Then a group of us walked around the harbour at night enjoying the views, smell of the sea and a concert in the square by a wonderful group of Slovenian musicians who happen to be staying at our hotel, playing traditional and modern instruments. We stood and listened for a long time enjoying the music and the atmosphere before walking back to the hotel for the night.