The second largest town in the Republic of Croatia; the urban, cultural and traffic centre of Dalmatia. Officially, Split is more than 1700 old, but there are archaeological findings that go deeper into history, and there is clear evidence about the population of the peninsula. We can link Split to the ancient Greeks or the Aspalathos colony, the Illyrian Delmati tribe and finally to the Roman emperor, Diocletian who provided today’s Split with its foundations by constructing a palace similar to a Roman military fortress, close to the Adriatic Sea. The old town centre has been included in the UNESCO world heritage list since 1979 and is a real magnet for the numerous tourists.
Situated on a peninsula, at the foot of the Marjan hill and protected by the Kozjak and Mosor mountains, Split has slowly developed from being a transit centre to a holiday destination. It is a cultural centre that is proud of its strong theatre stage, its numerous alternative events and interesting exhibitions. For more than 50 years, the summer in Split is marked by the festival in honour of the theatre and fantastic classical plays and numerous modern plays.
Split is also a sporting town for which its inhabitants like to say that it is ‘the most sporting town in the world’, it is host to numerous great sporting events, it is the home of sports club winners of numerous national and international titles, a place of origin for numerous top sportsmen, winners of the world and Olympic medals.
Accommodation in Split is offered in, an everyday greater, number of luxurious hotels, villas and apartments; in the world class restaurants and authentic Dalmatian taverns you can enjoy tasting the gastronomic specialities. Night life has something to offer for everyone, from discotheques, high class bars and casinos to alternative gigs and thematic coffee bars of modern art.
The famous Riva is a gathering place for all Split inhabitants, and is a connection between past and present, a place where our elders narrated sea stories and slandered neighbours with a temperament and dišpet (spite) that only Split knows.