For additional information about Split see Split's Homepage and On-line guide to Split.

In the early Middle Ages writers called it Spalatum in Latin and Spalathon in Greek. It was also called Spalatrum, Spalathron, Aspalato and Aspalathos. From the X century it was often called Spalato, Spaleto or Speleto which evolved into Splet in Croatian; then in the XV century it became Spljet in ikavian and ijekavian dialects.

Resting in the center of an outline of the city walls is the bell tower along with the Croatian Coat of Arms and likeness of the Patron Saint of Split, St. Domninus (sv. Dujam), the XIV century Salonitan bishop and martyr whose relics are in the Split Cathedral. Split traditionally honors him on May 7.

After the Avars destroyed Salona at the beginning of the VII century some Salonitans fled to Diocletian's Palace (IV c.) and lived there. The Emperor's Mausoleum was turned into a Cathedral and the municipal palace was on the Peristyle. In the XII and XIII centuries the city expanded outside the walls of the Palace. From Ancient times there is no reliable population information but it can be supposed that between the XIII and XVIII centuries Split had between 2000 and 8000 inhabitants. That number frequently fell to bellow 2000 in times of plague. Today, the Split area has a population of approximately 200,000.

The majority of the populace is Roman-Catholic. There is a small Jewish community with its synagogue in the city's center and cemetery on Marjan Hill. There are also the Christian Adventist and Orthodox Churches plus several small sects.

Cultural remains testifying to human existence on the Split Peninsula go back to the dark prehistoric times. However, over two centuries were to pass before there was to be a permanent settlement.

In the Antiquity, the Split Peninsula belonged to the nearby city of Salona which was the center and metropolis of the entire Roman province of Dalmatia. In the last centuries before Christ this area was parcelled and divided into regular plots 720 by 720 meters, thus showing that the Split area was an integral part of the administrative and territorial fabric of Roman Salona.

When the Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305) built his monumental residence in the center of the largest bay on the Split Peninsula, he laid the foundations for the future Split. His palace faces south towards the sea and islands (Solta, Brac, Ciovo) which give the impression of being on the banks of a lake.

While Diocletian was still in power, he started to build his villa in accordance with his reformatory policy. The Emperor was to retire to this luxurious residence after his abdication. This was most probably on October 20, 293 (the date of the founding of the tetrarchy). When he did abdicate on May 1, 305, the Emperor moved into his newly completed villa at the crossroads of Ad Dianam-Salona- Epetium (colloquially called palatium) as testified by various historical sources. The most famous Roman map, Tabula Peutingeriana, contained the toponym Spalato, the Latin ablative of Spalatum. The final version of this Roman map was made some 50 years after Diocletian's death when the toponym originating from the word palatium might have already been coined.

Diocletian's villa is not only the best preserved example of late Antique structures of this type but also very original; it reflects the time and place of architecture on its way from Roman classicism to the Middle Ages. That is why it has been designated an UNESCO world heritage site. Diocletian's Palace is a unique artistic creation designed to offer comfort and leisure to the aging emperor after his abdication but, at the same time, it reflected his political views while he was at the head of the Roman Empire. Diocletian's reformatory ideas were concerned with a new way of succession to the throne, the restructuring of the Roman Army, the restoration of traditional religious and court ceremonies, etc. The palace must have been fortified as testified by walls and towers. The emperor and his court had separate quarters in the southern part in which a cross-shaped triclinium (dining-room), porticoed walkway overlooking the crystal-like sea, thermal baths, bedrooms and numerous other state halls were located. In spite of the emperor's abdication, there must have been some sort of court ceremonies in the palace as evidenced by the peristyle with tribune, domed vestibule and two basilica-like halls. Such a design shows that Diocletian was still DOMINUS ET DEUS, though only in his own palace. There were three temples for religious needs, but they also reflect Diocletian's specific syncretistic religious ideas. Diocletian paid great attention to religion and his aim was to revive the original values of Roman beliefs (VETERIMAE RELIGIONIS CASTISSIMAE CURATAE) which, according to him, were indispensable for consolidating a badly shaken Roman Empire. Diocletian's policy did not only include the restoration of original Roman imperial values but the introduction of Oriental-Hellenistic court ceremonies which were not familiar to the Romans. Thus, Diocletian was the creator of what later became a typical feature of the Byzantine court. The residence had a place intended for the burial of the divined emperor. The present-day Split Cathedral originally belonged to the imperial mausoleum which was built in accordance with the reformed Roman principle of monumental tombs.

A villa organized in this way was an ideal nucleus for the future city which was destined to continue Salonitan tradition. When, in the early Middle Ages - in the first decades of the 7th century - Salona was destroyed, Salonitan refugees found shelter in Diocletian's Palace. They brought with them the relics of Salonitan martyrs, of the present-day protectors of Split - St. Domninus (Sv. Dujam) and St. Anastasius (Sv. Stas). In this way conditions were satisfied for Split to continue Salonitan tradition and to grow into a Medieval town, which was gradually transformed from a Roman into a Croatian town.

After Salona was devastated by the Avars in the VII century, it slowly withered away and its inhabitants scattered along the Adriatic. Some fled to Diocletian's Palace and founded the city co-operative (CIVITAS) which nurtured the Salonitan tradition, especially Christianity. They inherited Roman law, antique administrative institutions and the Latin language which was, little by little, dotted by local color. Although they were under Byzantine rule, they had political autonomy in running the town business and in their relations with neighbors.

The French briefly appeared on the Eastern Adriatic at the end of the VIII century. At that time true historical evidence of the Croatian state was seen in the hinterland. This resulted in the step by step Slavinization of Split which is best seen in the architecture of churches in the city and surroundings and which led to the unity of the church with Split at the center in 928. Several times Split and other Dalmatian towns were under Croat rule.

At the beginning of the XII century, all of these areas, plus Split, got a new Hungarian leader. This rule lasted until the beginning of the XV century. SPLIT ENACTED TOWN LAWS (STATUTE) IN 1312 and even had its own currency. The Croatization of the town's inhabitants ended in the XV century.

The year 1420 saw the beginning of Venetian rule in Split. The Venetians slowly tightened the autonomy of the town but held on to the system of municipal rule which was headed by a prince-captain who was always a Venetian.

The conquerors from the East, the Turkish Ottomans, ruled the Balkan hinterland from the XV century. They came near Split to a neighboring town and ruled from 1537 to 1648. After the Cretian and other wars, the Venetians and Turks disappeared from Dalmatia in 1718.

After Napoleon broke the Venetian Republic in 1797, Split and Dalmatia came under Austrian rule. Vienna was forced to cede Dalmatia to the French in 1806 and it became part of their Illyrian province in 1809.

At the end of 1813 Dalmatia again found itself under Austrian rule. Under Prince Metternich's rule, Split stagnated. It was not even affected by the stormy social and political changes in Europe in 1848.

Meanwhile, 1860 saw the national awakening of Croats under the political leadership of Austria. Then Split, like all of Dalmatia, was torn apart by Nationalists and Autonomists. The Nationalists wanted Dalmatia united with Croatia and Slavonia under the Austrians; the Autonomists wanted a Dalmatian state under Austria.

Near the end of the XIX century a new generation of politicians appeared in Split (and all of Croatia) - the Croatian Party of the Right, Ante Starcevic. Their leader in Split was Ante Trumbic who emigrated during World War I as president of the Yugoslav Executive Committee which advocated the uniting of Croatia with Serbia and Montenegro. In 1918 the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was founded. In 1920 Trumbic signed an agreement in Rapalla which defined the borders with Italy. That agreement gave Istria, Zadar and the Islands of Cres, Losinj and Lastovo to Italy. Afterwards Trumbic joined the bitter opposition of most Croatian politicians and the populace to Belgrade's idea of a Great Serbia. In the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia Split was the center of the provincial government, as well as the administrative center of the Provinces of Split and the Middle Adriatic. From August 1939, it was the center of the newly formed Croatian Bannat with the districts of Dubrovnik, Fojnica and Travnik. In April 1941 it was occupied by the Italians and in September 1943 by the Germans. In October 1944, the Partisans freed Split. Under the communist (1945-1990) Split was the governmental and administrative center of Dalmatia. Then with the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, it became the seat of the Split-Dalmatian County in the Republic of Croatia.

Tea Blagaic