Spent a full day wandering around Split that included a walking tour where I was the only client—no problem getting questions answered. Overwhelmingly, the theme of the tour was how Diocletian’s Palace was the bedrock for Split for over 1700 years integrating over these years various architectural styles and cultures spanning the Romans, Croat, Venetian, Hungarian, Habsburg, you name it, all the while trying to repel the Ottoman influences. Just amazing the interlacing of it all, and it seems to be stable both physically and psychically.
I also focused on the sights and smells of the outdoor markets brimming with activity. The guide brought to my attention that I saw no flies in the fish market due to the slightly sulfurous odor in the water used to clean the stalls.
Here are some impressions: walking among the Palace structures one looks down on a platform used to sacrifice animals during the Roman era; then looking through the east entrance one can spot the bell tower addition made during the medieval era; the drawing gives a good impression of how it looked in 305 AD; and this kind of picture shows the integration of new with old.
And here are the markets, the second being the fly-less fish market.
