Our Mediterranean Cruise on the Royal Caribbean, Splendour of the Seas started in Venice. Our first port stop was Split, Croatia.
The ship offered excursions in Split to local beaches and sightseeing tours. Living in Florida and having the beach at home, we thought it would be better to spend the day walking around town seeing Split and decided to it on our own. We took the tender to shore. Once we arrived on shore on Riva Harbor, we found a few local tourist companies offering tours to passengers coming off the ship which were more reliably priced. Riva Harbor Promenade is lined with cafes, palm trees and boats in the harbor, this is a lovely place to sit on a bench and look out over the Adriatic Sea, or have a seat at one of the many cafes along the street for a bite to eat. No matter your preference, Riva definitely is a must to visit. One of the entrances to Diocletian’s Palace is along Riva Harbor which makes it very convenient.
We walked along the promenade and through an alley and found a local fish market. The Split Fish Market (Ribarnica) is an institution in the old town of Split on Marmountova Ulica Street. In the morning the smell of the seafood is alluring, fresh, and clean. What makes the Split Ribarnica interesting, as opposed to other fish markets that I have seen, is that there are no flies to be seen. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a fly anywhere in the old town of Split or around Diocletian’s Palace. The palace and old town are situated above sulphur springs which keep flies away (this is well known to all Split locals and part of local legend).
We enjoyed seeing some of the locals selling their catch of the day, especially this strange looking fish with caught my eye with its sharp teeth and eyes staring at me. This fish is edible? Does the fish think we are edible?
Around every corner you find alleys that led you to courtyards with restaurants, hotels and boutique stores. One of these jewelry boutique stores caught the eyes of my girls: “Michal Negrin“. Michal Negrin is a well known for her beautiful handmade vintage jewelry with Swarovski Crystal. My daughter Ariana fell in love with the jewelry which has this antique victorian vintage look to it. I bought her a necklace which she wears everyday.
Split’s narrow streets hide a multitude of treasures. Even buildings that are sometimes literally built into those ancient walls provide an environment where the breath of history mingles with contemporary design and the attractive Dalmatian lifestyle.
On top of the list of things to see in Split was the Diocletian’s Palace. The ancient palace whose remains now form part of the historical center of this beautiful city. We ventured inside the palace gates to see the roman walls of the Diocletian Palace with its warm stone pavements and bumped into a few Roman warriors.
The symbol of the city is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Saint Domnius. The bell tower is the highest building in the town of Split. On a clear day you can see the whole town and surroundings islands from its top. According to historians it took 3 centuries to build it. You are allowed to climb if you are energetic enough. We didn’t have the energy to climb it.
Diocletian’s Palace was built by Diocletian, the Roman emperor at the turn of the 4th century, A.D. for his retirement from politics. It was once an imperial palace and a fortified town. Now it is home to 3,000 residents; commercial centers, and pricey resident apartments/hotels with a captivating view of the Adriatic Sea.
Diocletian’s Palace is a remarkable ancient monument which is surrounded by later medieval buildings and is now a thriving archaeological, historical, and artistic complex. In 1979, it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. And of course, it is of huge interest to tourists.
After you tour the palace, you can simply relax on the Riva (at the port), have an ice cream, and people watch for a while.
We enjoyed our visit to Split, Croatia although is was a short one.
Our next port stop to come: Kusadasi, Turkey
Marissa
June 15, 2014 at 6:19 pmSo glad you linked this post to the #SundayTraveler as I have been dying to go to Croatia for quite a while now! Looks like you were able to capture many beautiful photos!
Carmen
June 19, 2014 at 3:48 pmHi Marissa, Croatia is a beautiful country to explore. We really enjoyed spending the day in Split with the kids. I just wish we had more time to have visited some of the other places.
Emma
June 15, 2014 at 7:30 pmWhat a lovely place. Love your pictures of the fish market especially! Love all of your pics actually! 🙂
Carmen
June 19, 2014 at 3:51 pmThanks Emma. I took so many good pictures that it was hard to choose a few. Split is a great place to visit. Thanks for stopping by.
Adelina | PackMeTo
June 17, 2014 at 6:43 pmWhat a scary looking fish! Probably edible, but I’m not sure I would want to eat that face. I’ve heard such great things about Split and almost visited it. So gorgeous.
Carmen
June 19, 2014 at 3:55 pmHi Adelina. The monkfish which Frank says it’s called is a very ugly fish. Even though locals say it’s delicious, I don’t think I would want to eat it either. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
frankaboutcroatia
June 18, 2014 at 4:07 pmThanks for the shoutout, Carmen! So glad to see that you’ve visited and enjoyed Split. That fish is called Grdobina (I think Monkfish in English), and it’s delicious, despite its ugly look. It’s also very hard to clean (great to see that they sell a clean one at the market).
Carmen
June 19, 2014 at 4:00 pmHi Frank,
We really enjoyed our time in Spit. The people were very friendly and eager to please wherever we went. I especially enjoyed seeing the Fish Market. I can see why it’s such a big hit with tourist and the locals.
Ashley @ A Southern Gypsy
June 21, 2014 at 5:37 pmI went on a cruise, but stopped in Dubrovnik and absolutely fell in love with Croatia. Can’t wait to go back and explore more of it including Split. That fish is crazy looking though! Thanks for linking up to the #sundayTraveler!
Carmen
June 22, 2014 at 1:49 pmHi Askley, I hope to visit Dubronik one day, I hear it’s just as nice. Being from Florida and seeing barracudas with teeth like that in the water makes me not want to eat it. Thanks for stopping by.
Sand In My Suitcase
June 22, 2014 at 8:02 pmSplit’s a great little city, isn’t it? And since this was your first visit, you made the right choice to wander the streets and explore inside Diocletian’s Palace, rather than look for a beach. We recently wrote about Diocletian’s Palace here, if interested: http://www.sandinmysuitcase.com/diocletians-palace-in-split/
Dave Cole
June 22, 2014 at 9:37 pmThanks for the tour of Split! I was there several years ago and your photos brought me back very nicely. It might be worth the splurge to rent an apartment for a week in the former grounds of Diocletian’s palace just for those Adriatic views.
Carly Moore
June 5, 2016 at 2:44 pmWoooow I love the looks of that castle! Gonna add this to my Croatia list. Yay for UNESCO Sites!
Carly Moore recently posted…It’s Giveaway Time! Get Out And Explore The World With GPSMyCity.com!
Carmen Edelson
June 6, 2016 at 12:08 pmDefinitely go check out the Diocletian palace if you go. Croatia has so many great places to discover.