We made a quick hop across the Adriatic Sea back to the Dalmatian Coast and the port of Sibenik (pronounced Shiv – nick). We immediately boarded a bus and headed for Split. As we drove along the rocky coast, our guide explained that the rock walls that we passed were built as defense against the Ottoman Empire. The Empire showed little interest in the rocky coastline but they conquered the fertile inland areas. So, the Croatians fished and dived for sponges. They sent their wives to farm inland and they built walls to hide behind when Ottoman forces showed up.
Let me just note a couple of interesting things that we saw along the Croatian Coast. First, there are a lot of wind turbines. Second, Croatian farmers have taken on the barren rocky coast by using the limestone rock to build a cross hatch of low rock walls which act as planters for trees and grape vines. The rock walls hold in dirt and water and the limestone acts as fertilizer when it gets wet. It is very labor intensive agriculture but seems to pay off in the end.
After about an hour and a half on the bus we finally reached the city of Split. Our first destination was the basement of the Palace of Diocletian. Diocles (b. 245 CE; d. 311) was born in the Roman province of Illeryium (Dalmatia) and became Emperor in 284 CE. He decided that the only way to manage the Roman Empire was to divide it into two – East and West. He made himself emperor (Augustus) of the Eastern Empire and appointed a trusted commander, Maximus, as Augustus in the West. Now known as Diocletian, he continued to hold the title of Augustus until his health forced him to retire (abdicate) in 303 CE. He retired to a magnificent palace that he had had built in Spalatum (modern day Split). Diocletian was known for dividing the Roman Empire and for persecuting both Christians and Jews.
The significance of the palace’s basement is that it remains intact and, therefore, provides a blue print for the layout of the palace. (Many of the locations for the HBO series “Game of Thrones” are here in Split, including this basement, and Sibenick.) Above the floors and the partially ruined walls of the palace still stand. Diocletian intended the palace to be a mausoleum after his death and the area that was his crypt has largely survived because it was converted to a Christian church after Christianity became the state religion of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). Also, the Temple of Jove also survived as a baptistry.
After the tour of Diocletian’s Palace, we were taken on a walking tour through the old city of Split and down to the ocean front of the new city. We had a very nice lunch in a local hotel and then we had free time to explore the city for ourselves. Frances and I wandered through the old city fro awhile, coming upon a part of the Palace that had not been on the tour. Finally we ended up at the oceanside where I was able to buy popcorn which I have not had since the Super Bowl!
After returning to Sibenick, we returned to the ship. Once we had dropped our stuff in our cabin, we went topside to watch the ship sail away through the natural channel out of Sibenick, past the many Croation islands and finally out into the Adriatic Sea …
