Living Inside Diocletian's Palace, Split

Diocletian's Palace in Split is one of the most extraordinary things in Europe, full stop. The Roman Emperor Diocletian (who abdicated in 305 CE — the only Roman emperor to do so voluntarily) built his retirement villa on the Dalmatian coast, and over the following 1,700 years, the city of Split grew into it. The walls, towers, streets, and subterranean spaces of the Roman palace became the foundations, walls, and buildings of the medieval city, and then the contemporary city. People today live, eat, sleep, and run bars inside a Roman imperial palace.

The Peristyle — the ceremonial central courtyard of the original palace, where Diocletian received guests in full imperial ceremony — is now a piazza with a cafe. The emperor's mausoleum (a perfect octagonal building) was converted first into a Christian cathedral (one of the ironic twists in history, since Diocletian persecuted Christians) and is now the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, the oldest cathedral in the world to retain its original structure. The palace substructures — vast barrel-vaulted cellars beneath the living city, used for storage, then forgotten, then cleared and opened — are remarkable spaces.

Split is a city with an unusual energy: simultaneously a working Dalmatian port, a tourist destination, and a place where the layers of history are not preserved under glass but lived in and walked through every day. The Riva (harbour promenade) buzzes with outdoor life from spring through autumn. The fish market opens at dawn. The evening korzo (the Mediterranean promenade ritual) takes over the old town from seven onward. Ferries to Hvar, Brac, and Vis leave from the harbour. Split is a gateway to the islands.