Split · Old Town · Croatia

Diocletian's Palace

Roman ruinsold townhistoryarchitecturegoogle verified

easy

9/10

best: morning, late afternoon

historic, lively, layered

A local would say...

Romans built an entire retirement palace, then people moved in after Rome fell — and they're still there.

One of the most imposing Roman ruins in existence — a 4th-century imperial retirement palace that became a living city when its inhabitants walled themselves inside after a neighbouring colony was abandoned, and has been continuously inhabited ever since. Today the streets, restaurants, and apartments of Split's old town occupy the spaces between the palace's original walls, towers, and subterranean vaults. The palace covers nine acres and contains a cathedral built in Diocletian's own mausoleum.