The Sheila Variations

I have lots of stories from Split... Today Split is the most developed, industrialized city in Dalmatia. It is still as Dame Rebecca describes it, pretty much, except that the old city is surrounded by typical European industrial suburbs. The Palace is perhaps not as imposing as you might expect comparing it to others in Europe, but the layers of history surrounding the original apartments make it unique. The Palace itself seems impressively modern for a Roman-era structure, and it's incredibly well preserved. You can really get the impression that it must have been stunning in Diocletian's time. Split, like Dubrovnik, impressed me because there are still people living in essentially unmodernized Roman-era structures. They've added a couple of electric wires and slightly more modern plumbing, but otherwise they're living in the same house that some Roman lived in 1800 years ago.

The port is my favourite part of the city - it's an authentic Roman protected harbor, seemingly tiny by todays standards (that's the old port - there's a new port that takes big ships). There is a big Roman-era colonnade (if that's the right word) facing the old port - it was part of the original wall of the city,I think. It's fascinating how latter-day Croats simply built onto the Roman edifice to create their own structures over the centuries. Like many of the cities in Croatia, the history in Split just reaches out and knocks you up side the head.

Somewhere I have photos, but unfortunately my Dalmatia photos are pre-digital, so I'd have to scan them if I could find them.

But although Split is fascinating like all of the Balkans, and especially Dalmatia, I was more enchanted by Zadar, and especially Dubrovnik, than I was by Split. I think Zadar and Dubrovnik today are closer to their original Roman designs than Split is.