We are staying on the palace grounds of the former Roman Emperor, Diocletian. He built his "retirement villa" of 320,000 square feet here in Split. It was built in the 4th century AD in 8 years time by 20,000 slaves and over 100,000 people lived there. The palace had over 30 hot tubs. Half of the palace was used as a garrison by the military. Diocletian was elected Emperor by his soldiers after winning an important war in Africa. He reigned for 20 years. He built his own mausoleum and was laid to rest until many years later when refugees from the Ottoman Empire fled to Split. They were so angry with Diocletian for killing Christians that they destroyed his sarcophagus.
The "mortar" that was used to build the palace compound was a mixture of volcanic ash, water and egg whites. The "basement" of the palace is very well preserved because after Diocletian died, the town was deserted for centuries. Later a Roman noble who was being persecuted, fled to Split and moved into the Palace for a short time before it was once again deserted. Finally, refugees fleeing the Ottoman Empire, came and took up residence once more in the palace grounds, but they began to remove some of the large stone blocks and build regular houses. But there were so many refugees that trash began to be a problem so what did they do? They cut holes in the floor of the palace and used two wings to dump all the garbage into the basement. This kept the basement very well preserved as you can see in some of the photos below. We were also told about the emperors dining room table-- just a foot or so off the ground. The court would lie on the floor around the table to dine. Close by was the vomitorium, (yes , really!) where they would go after meals to purge. Who Knew the Romans were the first bulemics!
In areas where there are two walls ( an outer wall and inner wall), the inner doors were closed and the Pretorian guard would watch below. If they saw someone enter inside the first wall and they didn't think they looked like they should be there, they would dump boiling water on them! Ouch!
After our walking tour, we headed off to KRKA National Park with our terrific guide, Sanda, to see the spectacular waterfalls. They are a national wonder. The sea runs underneath the fresh water for about 20 miles inland. The area is heavily limestone and very porous. Thus, when it rains, it seeps into the rocks and has formed these many shallow waterfalls. In some photos you will see a foam on the water. This is not pollution, but a form of organic "soap!" When the fresh rain water hits the top of the fresh water with salt water beneath it, it causes plankton to "explode" creating a type of soap on the water.
After walking the trail to see all the falls, we took a 30 minute boat ride to a village that was founded in 2000 BC! Skradin was originally settled by the Illyrian tribe who found this perfectly beautiful and protected, natural harbor. The town was wiped out three times by the plague. The last time 10,000 of the 16,000 inhabitants perished. The town all but disappeared. Fortunately, the "gift" of the protected natural harbor eventually gave new life to the town. Today it is an expensive yacht marina and resort town.
Basement perfectly preserved thanks to trash!
Inside the Palace walls.
Beautiful Bougainville!
A diagram of what the palace grounds once looked like.
An example of the two walls where: Beware! You could have boiling water poured on you!
Poor Tom's hand!
Sanda explaining the path we'll walk to view the falls.
Pristinely clear!
The "foam" is naturally occurring soap from "exploding" plankton!
A fisherman a paradise!
The town of Skradin.
Goodnight until tomorrow!!!!
The beauty of your pictures came through with your words. Weather looks great!
ReplyDeleteTom - per Peter S - keep taking your antibiotics
Interesting facts beware of double doors and boiling water and no laying down eating!