Croatia – Split (En)

Split is the second-largest city in Croatia. It lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and is spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings. It concentrates excellent treasures of history in its old town and transports you to another era, perhaps for this reason many scenes from Games of Thrones were recorded here.

We stayed in Camping Stobrec Split (43.5042, 16.5264 lat, long) winner of the 5 stars camping in 2023, which included in the price a Spa with gym, sauna and jacuzzi which we did not try at the end, a dog beach and a private beach, very cute restaurant, beach gym and all what you need as a market. The only bizarre thing is that you have to use a bracelet in a sensor for a shower and you have 7 minutes and then you have to use the bracelet again and the sensor is outside the shower! The camping is quite expensive but with the Acsi Card only 23 euros per day all included.

To go to Split were several buses you can take, the bus stop is only 5 minutes from the camping, so we went by bus to Split. The bus leaves you next to the Promenade which is full of typical product stands, terraces, bars and restaurants, one of the most animated areas of the city. From there we went to the Independent Square built in the 19th century and surrounded by Renaissance buildings with rosy facades and arched galleries on three sides.

After that, we found the Fruit Square called that way because the women from the neighbouring towns came here to sell fruit. In the centre of the square stands a statue of Marko Marulic, the first writer to write and publish his works in Croatian, considered the father of Croatian literature.

I have to mention too the Marijina Church at the end of the Promenade, and the amazing narrow alleys of the old town which took us to the Ciprianis-Benedetti Palace of Romanesque style and built in 1394.

Then we went to see what is called the Crown Jewel of the old town, Diocletian’s Palace, which is actually a monumental complex that houses a great part of the old town and different monuments, among which the basements of the palace stand out, the Perystile Square which is the heart of the palace and where you can see an Egyptian Sphinx from the 15 century BC and the Cathedral of St Domnius an octagonal building converted into a church in the 5th century, with the bell tower added in the 13th century. The entrance to the palace is through 4 gates, the most striking being the Bronze Gate, the Silver Gate and the Gold Gate. Here you can see the Silver Gate.

Just through a narrow alley next to the palace you arrive at the Jupiter Temple current baptistery of the cathedral where you can see another sphinx that was beheaded by the Christians for considering it a pagan symbol, and next to the Temple is Let Me Pass Street, the narrowest in Split and where you can only pass one by one.

Then we went walking around the narrow alleys of the old town which are full of cute shops, bars and restaurants until we found the St Martin Church, one of the best discoveries we did, as you have to go up narrow steps to arrive to the little church and where we met the nun managing the church who told us this was the first church of Split!

Then we went to see the Golden Gate which is the main entrance to the palace and the most richly decorated. There we saw two Roman soldiers and I took pictures with them and Ben has to give them 2 euros so they let me go! hahaha. Next to the gate, you can find the Gregorio Nin Statue a Christian Bishop who fought for the use of Croatian in Christian liturgy.

After freeing myself from the Romans we went to see the Town Square which was the first place inhabited in the city outside the palace and where you can find the Old Town Hall and the 24-hour clock next to the Bronze Gate.

To finish our visit to Split we went through the old town alleys where we saw the Museum of Games of Thrones and we went to a square where we saw a nice restaurant where they do cocktails and I had the Singapore Sling which was delicious and where we share a Burrito with pork slow cooked meat, black beans, rice, onion and peppers with an amazing salsa. The Burrito was huge and only 10 euros! After lunch, we went back to the old town and the promenade to take the bus back to the camping.

Our next stop is Dubrovnik a city in southern Croatia fronting the Adriatic Sea. It’s known for its distinctive Old Town, encircled with massive stone walls completed in the 16th century which you can see in the next post!