Page 124 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

122  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

Palace of Diocletian

Diocletian, probably a native of Salona, became emperor in 284.
He made Maximian joint Augustus, senior co-emperor, in 285,
and then in 293 he appointed Galerius and Constantius as
Caesars, junior co-emperors (the Tetrarchy). After governing
for 20 years, Diocletian retired from public life and in 305 moved
to the palace which he had commissioned from the architects
Filotas and Zotikos in the bay of Split. After Diocletian’s death
in 316, the palace was used as administrative offices and the
governor’s residence. In 615, refugees from Salona found shelter
here after the destruction of their city by the Avars. The richest
settled in the emperor’s apartments, the poorer in the towers and
above the gates. The corners of the palace were marked by four Iron Gate and the Clock Tower
square towers, and four towers along the north, east and south This is the best-preserved gate:
sides, while the side facing the sea had a loggia with arches. beyond is the church of Our
Lady of the Belfry with a
Temple of Jupiter 12th-century tower next to it.
This had an atrium with six
columns. The body of the
building had a coffered vault and
rested on an underground crypt.
In the early Middle Ages it was
turned into the Baptistry
of St John.

The Temples of Venus and
Cybele were circular outside
and had a hexagonal ground-
plan inside. A colonnaded
corridor ran around the outside.

The Mausoleum of Diocletian,
now the Cathedral of
St Domnius

Peristyle
Near the crossroads where the Cardo and
Decumanus intersected, the peristyle gave access
to the sacred area. On one side were the temples
of Venus and Cybele and, further back, that of
Jupiter (now the Baptistry of St John); on the other
side, the Mausoleum, now the cathedral.

For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp226–31 and pp238–49

122-123_EW_Croatia.indd 122 20/10/16 12:31 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Starsight template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 24th April 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm