Split Old Town: Diocletian’s Palace, Pjaca and the Riva

Split’s historic centre occupies a surprisingly small area between the ferry port and the older neighbourhoods west of Diocletian’s Palace. Within a few streets, Roman walls and gates meet medieval churches, Gothic and Renaissance houses, markets, cafés and a waterfront still used as one of the city’s main public spaces.

For travellers continuing to Vis, the location is particularly convenient. The old town begins only a short walk from the passenger port, so even a few spare hours can be enough to understand the basic shape of central Split without travelling elsewhere in the city. The Tourist Board’s city map shows the port, Riva, palace and surrounding historic streets clustered along the same central waterfront.

Inside a City Built into a Roman Palace

Diocletian’s Palace was constructed between the late 3rd and early 4th centuries as a fortified imperial residence for the Roman emperor Diocletian. The important thing to understand today is that Split did not simply grow beside the palace. Over centuries, the city grew inside it as well.

Homes, churches and streets occupied the Roman structure, while medieval fortifications, Romanesque churches, Gothic palaces and later Renaissance and Baroque buildings developed within and around its walls. UNESCO recognises this wider Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian, which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979.

This explains why the palace feels unlike a conventional archaeological site. There is no single entrance followed by a prescribed museum route. People live and work within the old structure, restaurants and shops occupy historic buildings, and ordinary streets pass through architecture spanning many centuries.

The Four Gates and the Peristyle

The Roman palace had four main gates, and they still provide useful landmarks. The Golden Gate stands on the north side, facing the direction of ancient Salona. The Silver Gate opens to the east, close to today’s Pazar market, while the Iron Gate connects the western palace wall with the later medieval centre. To the south, the smaller Brass Gate leads from the waterfront into the palace substructures.

You do not need to follow them in a particular order. For someone arriving from the ferry port, the southern side is the natural starting point because the Brass Gate and the passage through the substructures connect the Riva directly with the central palace area.

At the heart of the Roman complex is the Peristyle, the ceremonial courtyard in front of Diocletian’s residential quarters. The Roman columns and arches remain, but later buildings now frame the space as well. Diocletian’s mausoleum was converted into what became the Cathedral of Saint Domnius, one of the clearest examples of how Split reused rather than simply abandoned the architecture of the Roman palace.

Beneath the Palace

Below the southern part of Diocletian’s Palace are the extensive substructures, usually referred to as the Palace Cellars. They supported the emperor’s residential quarters above and preserve much of the original arrangement of that section of the palace because their structure corresponded closely with the rooms that once stood overhead.

Today, part of the complex is open for sightseeing, while the central passage remains one of the most useful pedestrian routes through the old town. Enter from the Riva through the Brass Gate and the passage leads beneath the palace towards the stairs below the Peristyle.

For a short visit, this route provides a good introduction to how the city fits together. Within a few minutes you move from the modern waterfront, through Roman foundations and into the ceremonial centre of the former imperial residence.

Beyond the Roman Walls

Split’s historic centre continued to develop beyond the boundaries of Diocletian’s Palace. The clearest example is Narodni trg, universally known as Pjaca, immediately west of the palace.

The square is first mentioned in the 13th century and became the centre of the medieval city outside the Roman walls. The Old Town Hall stands here, surrounded by buildings from later periods, while the square remains full of everyday city activity.

Moving west from the Iron Gate towards Pjaca therefore feels less like leaving the old town than moving from one historical layer into another. Roman Split gives way gradually to medieval and later streets, and from there routes continue towards Marmontova, the fish market and the western side of the centre.

The Riva and the City Markets

Along the southern edge of the palace, the Riva provides the easiest point of orientation. The promenade began to take its modern form during French administration under Marshal Marmont in the early 19th century and has since been widened and rebuilt several times. The southern façade of Diocletian’s Palace forms its historic backdrop, while the ferry port begins just beyond its eastern end.

The Riva is not simply a route between sights. It remains one of Split’s principal public spaces, used for meeting, walking, sitting at cafés and public events. For someone with limited time before a ferry, it is also useful because you can remain close to the port while moving between different parts of the historic centre.

Two traditional markets sit on opposite sides of the old town. Pazar, the open-air produce market, occupies the area immediately outside the eastern palace wall around the Church of St Dominic. Peškarija, the fish market, lies to the west near Marmontova and occupies a Secession-style market building more than a century old. Both remain functioning markets rather than preserved tourist exhibits.

How Much Time Do You Need?

With around two hours available, there is little reason to rush beyond the central area. Walking from the Riva through the palace substructures to the Peristyle, then through part of the palace and back towards the waterfront, gives you a coherent introduction without turning the visit into a race.

Half a day gives you time to continue west through Pjaca, visit one of the markets, explore smaller streets and perhaps enter the palace substructures or another historic site properly. With a full day, you can move more slowly and add museums or other parts of central Split without needing to treat every building as a checkpoint.

The old town rewards wandering, but it helps to understand its structure first: Diocletian’s Palace forms the Roman core, the medieval city expanded mainly to the west, and the Riva runs along the sea to the south. Once those three elements make sense, getting around becomes straightforward.

Back to the Ferry

The proximity of the old town to Split’s passenger port is what makes this particularly useful for people travelling to Vis. You can spend meaningful time in the historic centre without committing to a journey across Split, and the Riva provides an obvious route back towards the harbour.

The only caution is timing. Split’s port is large, and the correct ferry or catamaran may depart from a berth some distance from the edge closest to the old town. Check the current departure information before leaving your luggage or heading into the centre, and allow enough time to find the correct vessel and board comfortably.

Split’s historic centre deserves much more than a hurried walk between connections, but it also works unusually well when that is all the time you have. Roman architecture, medieval streets, working markets and the waterfront all sit within the same compact area, only minutes from the beginning of the sea journey to Vis.

Sources & further reading

• Split Tourist Board – About Split 
• Split Tourist Board – Diocletian Palace 
• Split Tourist Board – The Riva 
• Split Tourist Board – Marjan