Split grew up inside a Roman emperor's retirement palace, and it never moved out. Homes, shops and cafés fill the walls Diocletian built around AD 300, and the seafront Riva runs along its southern façade. Here are the facts and stories that make the city special.
10 fun facts about Split
- A palace for a retired emperor: Diocletian had the palace built from around 295 and settled here after he gave up the throne in 305, one of the very few Roman emperors to step down of his own accord.
- People still live inside: about 3,000 people live within the palace walls, which take up roughly half of the old town.
- A mausoleum turned cathedral: Diocletian's mausoleum became the Cathedral of St Domnius, named after a bishop of Salona who was martyred during Diocletian's persecution of Christians. It is one of the oldest cathedrals in the world still in use.
- On the UNESCO list since 1979: Diocletian's Palace and the historic centre of Split were among the first sites in Croatia to become World Heritage.
- A giant toe for luck: Ivan Meštrović's 8.5-metre bronze of Gregory of Nin, a 10th-century bishop who championed the Croatian language in church services, first stood in the Peristyle in 1929. Since 1954 it has stood outside the Golden Gate, and rubbing its big toe is said to bring luck.
- Filmed in the cellars: the vaulted cellars under the palace, among the best-preserved ancient substructures of their kind, appeared in the fourth season of Game of Thrones.
- A football club born in a Prague pub: Hajduk Split was founded in 1911 by students from Split in U Fleků, a beer hall in Prague.
- The father of Croatian literature: Marko Marulić finished Judita, the first great epic poem in Croatian, in Split in 1501. A Meštrović statue of him stands on Fruit Square.
- A theatre built big: the Croatian National Theatre opened in 1893 with about 1,000 seats, then the largest theatre in Southeast Europe. After a fire in 1970 it was rebuilt and reopened in 1980.
- A game played in the shallows: picigin, keeping a small ball in the air with dives and splashes in ankle-deep water, was born on Bačvice beach.
Diocletian and his cabbages
Diocletian was born in Dalmatia, ruled the Roman Empire for more than twenty years and reorganised it so that four emperors could share power. Then, in 305, he did something almost unheard of: he resigned and retired to his palace by the sea. When former colleagues later urged him to take power again, he is said to have replied that if they could see the cabbages he had grown with his own hands, they would never ask. Three centuries later, when Avars and Slavs destroyed nearby Salona, its people took refuge inside the palace walls, and the emperor's retreat slowly became a town.
The Peristyle and the Vestibule
The Peristyle, the palace's colonnaded central square, was the formal approach to the emperor's apartments; today people sit on its steps with a coffee. Beyond it lies the Vestibule, a round hall whose dome has long since fallen in. Its acoustics suit klapa, the a cappella multipart singing of Dalmatia, which was added to UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2012, and groups often sing here for passers-by.
What to eat in Split
- Pašticada: beef marinated in vinegar and slowly braised with wine and dried plums, served with gnocchi, the dish of Dalmatian family celebrations.
- Soparnik: a thin pie filled with Swiss chard, onion and parsley, baked on an open hearth. The version from the nearby Poljica area has had EU protection since 2016.
- Crni rižot: black risotto coloured and flavoured with cuttlefish ink.
- Fritule: small fried doughnuts flavoured with citrus zest and brandy, especially popular around Christmas.
Good to know before you go
- Ferries and catamarans to Hvar, Brač and other islands leave from the harbour right next to the old town. In summer, book ahead.
- Trogir, a UNESCO-listed medieval town on a tiny island, is a short bus ride away, and Krka National Park makes a good day trip.
- Climb the cathedral's bell tower for a view over the palace roofs, or walk up Marjan hill from the western end of the Riva for wide views of the sea and islands.
Explore Split with World City Trail
Our Split scavenger hunt turns these sights into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 20 minutes of walking, and its stops include the Croatian National Theatre, the Gregory of Nin statue and the Golden Gate of Diocletian's Palace.
At each stop you solve a puzzle and hear a short story, at your own pace. You can start whenever you like.
Play the Split scavenger hunt →
Facts checked in October 2026.