diocletian's palace in split

GAIUS AURELIUS VALERIUS DIOCLETANIUS (c 243-316) was born in Salona ( today Solin ), in that time capital of the Roman province Dalmatia. He was pronounced emperor on 284 AD. In order to restore order in Gaul and to prevent usurpation of the throne, he named his friend Maximian as co-regent and placed the western part of the empire under his rule. In 293, the two of them took as co-regents Galerius, married to Diocletian's daughter Valeria and Constanline Chlorus. He made of the empire an absolutist monarchy on the Persian model, separate military from civilian administration, reconstructing the inner organisation of the army and state bureaucracy, and put in order the financial monetary and tax systems, took away from the Senate their former rights. Although initially tolerant of Christianity, in 303 he issued an edict in which he prohibited it. This brought about numerous executions, the confiscation of property, and the destruction of churches. On 305 he abdicated, and retired to the palace he had prepared for his retirement.

Building of Diocletian palace started on 295 AD and took 10 years before completion. The Palace is built of white local limestone of high quality, most of which was from quarries on the island of Brac.

The ground plan of palace is rectangular with towers projecting from the western, northern, and eastern facades. Its form and arrangement of the buildings within the Palace represent a transitional style of an imperial villa, Hellenistic town and Roman camp. The southern, seaward side of the Palace (181 m long and unfortified ), with subsequent annexes, can be viewed from the coast.
The transverse road ( decumanus ) linking the eastern gate, the Silver Gate (Porta argentea) and western gate, the Iron Gate, (Porta ferrea) divided the complex into two halves. In the southern half were the more luxurious structures; that is, the emperor's apartment, both public and private, and cult buildings. The emperor's apartment formed a block along the sea front. The Brass Gate (Porta Aenea), a vaulted passage leading from the sea into the interior of the Palace, are in the middle of the southern side. To the left is the entrance into the cellars of Diocletian's Palace, with a system of corridors and halls under the southern parts of the Palace which can be visited by tourists. Southern part include the octagonal domed mausoleum, the rectangular Temple of Jupiter, the cruciform lower level of the Vestibule, and circular temples to Cybele and Venus. The vast Roman Empire of late antiquity easily absorbed foreign influences, apparent in the Egyptian sphinxes outside the Temple of Jupiter and the mausoleum, rebuilt as the Cathedral of St Domnius. A monumental court, called the Peristyle, formed the northern access to the imperial apartments.
Split Croatia The northern half of the palace, which was divided in two parts by the main longitudinal street (cardo) leading from the northern gate, the Golden Gate (Porta aurea) to the Peristyle, is less well preserved. It is usually supposed that each of these parts formed a large residential complex, housing soldiers, servants, and possibly some other facilities. Both parts were apparently surrounded on all sides by streets. Leading to perimeter walls there were rectangular buildings, possibly storage magazines.
Water for the palace came from the Jadro river near Salona. Along the road from Split to Salona impressive remains of the original aqueduct can still be seen. They were extensively restored in the nineteenth century.

Although the structure is commonly called Diocletian's palace, Diocletian never lived there during his reign as Emperor. Thus, his palace could more accurately be called a luxury retirement home.

This palace is today the heart of the inner city of Split

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diocletian's palace in split