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WELCOME TO
SPLIT
Without hiding their
pride, the
people of Split will tell you that their city is "the
most beautiful one in the world and beyond". You'd
better not discuss this with them for well spirited
Split will convince you in this as soon as you discover
it! This for ever young city with the population of
about 200,000 that give it its warm Mediterranean temper, has lived its urban rhythm for as long as 1700
years, with its heart in the Diocletian's Palace and its
soul widespread to embrace you.
Ever since the life of the city
protected by the UNESCO and entered into the register of
the World Cultural Heritage has been wrifing the history
of this unique capital of Dalmatia.
POSITION
AND NATURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
The city of Split is situated in
the warmest region of the northern Mediterranean coast,
in the very centre of the Adriatic eastern coast and in
the immediate vicinity of the rivers Jadro and Žrnovnica
that have been watering it for 1700 years. Its mild
climate, with 2700 sunny hours per year, makes it an
oasis where, sheltered from the wind, one can enjoy the
sun even in wintertime. The industrial, university, and
business centre of the region nourishes its "green soul"
on the hill Marjan situated in the westernmost part of
the peninsula. Its forested park infringed by the city
and the sea offers pleasant walks away from the city
noise under the pines by the sea.
HOW TO REACH SPLIT
The city at the foot of Marjan
can be reached by The Adriatic Coastal Road, winding by
the sea or by hinterland roads connected to Split. It
will take you 5 hours to get to Zagreb and 4 hours to
get to Dubrovnik in your car. You can also reach Split
if you get on a coast ferry liner from Rijeka or
Dubrovnik, from all central Dalmatian islands. There are
excellent fast and regular ferry lines from Ancona and
Pescara, Italy. From the Airport Split flights connect
the city witb Zagreb several times a day, as well as
with European capitals. There are also trains from Split
to the north of the country and further on to Europe.
You can transport your car by train, as well.
THE
HISTORY OF SPLIT
The first inhabitant of Split
was the Roman emperor Diocletian who started to build
his palace in this triendly bay around 293 AD. After his
abdication he withdrew to this luxurious palace of about
30 thousand square meters. The following turbulent
centuries made the palace into a town first populated by
the citizens of the nearby Salona, fleeing before Avars
and Slavs. The town overgrew the walls of the palace and
its authorities kept changing-from Croatian kings
in lOth century AD, Hungarian and Venetian
administration, to French rulers and Austro-Hungarian
monarchy.
Such
past left its traces combined in the town everyday life.
The city, however, went on remaining the centre of this
part of the coast till our day. This mixture of historic
layers brought some clumsiness and some things done too
fast but today all that makes a part of its originality.
The big city today lives by the silent beats of history,
lively spirit of the young and its particular
Mediterranean charm.
THE CULTURAL OFFER
in this city-museum is an
endless story leading from the streets in which history
lives with the breath of the present. There are museums,
galleries and spaces where, for a moment, you can feel
as a participant of the famous centuries the traces of
which you are following with your steps.
ACCOMMODATION
Beside the city hotels or
outskirts ones, there are great possibilities of
comfortable accommodation in luxuriously furnished and
fitted family houses and apartments.
GASTRONOMY
Wherever you go during your tourist or business stay in
Split, look for a good konoba (wine cellar) or fish
restaurant, where fruit of the sea and sea food dishes
will offer an unforgettable joy to all your senses.
Don't forget genuine Dalmatian brandies-lozovača and
travarica to start with. After such aperitif, be sure to
taste Dalmatian pršut (smoke-andwind-dried ham), salted
sardines or cheese kept in oil, roast or boiled lamb,
pašticada s njokima (stewed beef served in Dalmatian
gravy sauce with noodles). The dishes are nicely
followed by famous red (Dingač, Postup, Faros, Babić)
and white (Pošip, Maraština, Grk, Bogdanuša) wines.
Make
your meal sweet with rožata (Dalmatian pudding) or
kroštule (traditional fried pastry) and make a toast to
it all with sweet desert wine prošek, a result of grapes
and the sun.
SPORT -
RECREATION
Split is a city of sport and the spirit of sport, its
mild climate offering the possibility of outdoor
recreation throughout the year. You can relax playing
tennis, basketball, valley ball, and football. You can
go swimming in indoor pools, go sailing or rowing in
calm coves not far from the city. You can climb the
rocks of Marjan, enjoy trim-tracks of the Marjan Forest,
ride a bicycle, rollerskate...
EXCURSIONS
Few
cities can offer such variety of entertainment and
excursions in their closest surroundings as Split. At
the very entrance to the city there are ruins of the
ancient Salona, once the capital of the Roman province
Dalmatia and the biggest archaeological locality on the
eastern Adriatic coast. Just a bit further away stands
the town of Trogir, entered in the UNESCO register of
the World Cultural Heritage, which two-millennium-old
history is woven in modern life of this town-museum.
North of Split, on the way to Sinj, rises the fortress
of Klis. It was built to defend this region from the
Turkish invasion. Having passed the fortress you enter
the hinterland that offers the possibility to enjoy in
riding, rafting and canoeing down the white waters of
the Cetina River. There are three big Marian shrines
only 30 km away from Split dedicated to Our Miraculous
Lady of Sinj, Our Little Lady of Solin and the shrine at
Vepric. The world famous shrine Medugorje in Bosnia and
Herzegovina, is 130 km away from Split.
If you
set off to the sea, the routs will take you to Hvar,
Brać, Vis. These are the islands of rich history and
tradition, unique beauty and natural phenomena. One of
them is the sea cave Modra špilja on the island of
Biševo, where the sunrays break turning the sea into
blue silver.
SHOPPING - There are a lot of
shops,
department stores and a range of small authentic
galleries, souvenir and antique shops in the alleys
within the walls of the Palace. In the middle of the
summer these tiny streets stay in the shade coolness of
stone walls. You can find huge shopping centres at the
outskirts of the city.
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