Diocletian's Palace & Split Wine

Emperor Diocletian retired here in 305 AD and built the best-preserved Roman palace in the world. Wine bars in the basement cellars serve local Dalmatian wines in spaces where Roman amphorae once stood.

What to do there

4 things to do

1. 1 Find the Gate Where Rome Came Home to Die History · Free

   Where: Walk to the Riva, Split's harbor promenade. At its center, find the Bronze Gate — the only undecorated gate in the palace, flush against the sea wall, almost hidden between souvenir stalls.

   What: This is the Roman emperor Diocletian's private sea gate. He was born ~244 AD near here, son of a freed slave from Salona (modern Solin, 5km away). He rose from nothing through the legions, invented the concept of ruling Rome with four emperors simultaneously, and then — in 305 AD — did something no Roman emperor had ever done: he quit. He walked through this exact gate, stepped out of the boat that had carried him across the Adriatic from the imperial capital, and retired to grow cabbages. When his colleagues begged him to return to power, he wrote back: 'If you could see the cabbages I have planted here with my own hands, you surely would never have thought to request this.' The most powerful man in the world, and he chose his garden.

   How: Stand in the archway of the Bronze Gate at any time — it is open 24 hours. Look at how small and unassuming it is compared to the grand Golden Gate on the north side. This was intentional. The south gate wasn't for impressing dignitaries; it was for the emperor slipping home by boat. Face north into the palace. You are now standing where Diocletian stood when he stepped off his last imperial ship.

   Backup: If the gate is crowded, come back before 8am or after 7pm — the entire palace changes character when cruise ship passengers leave.

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2. 2 Stand in the Persecutor's Tomb — Now a Church History · Price: moderate

   Where: From the Bronze Gate, walk north through the vaulted basement passage — you'll emerge into the Peristyle, the colonnaded central courtyard of the palace. On your right (east side) is the Cathedral of Saint Domnius. Buy the €15 combo ticket at the door (includes Cathedral, Crypt, Baptistery, Treasury, and Bell Tower). Hours: summer 9am-7pm; shoulder season 9am-5pm; winter 9am-3pm.

   What: In 303 AD, Diocletian issued the edicts of the Great Persecution — the worst, most systematic destruction of Christianity in Roman history. Churches razed. Scriptures burned. Christians forbidden to assemble. Saint Domnius, the first Bishop of Salona, was beheaded on Diocletian's orders in 304 AD, just 5km from here. Seven years later, Diocletian died in this palace. His sarcophagus was placed in this very octagonal room you're now entering. Then history pulled its greatest reversal: the Christians won. The sarcophagus was smashed. The relics of Saint Domnius — the man Diocletian executed — were carried from the ruins of Salona and placed inside the emperor's own tomb. The persecutor's mausoleum became the martyr's church, and it has operated continuously since the 7th century — one of the oldest functioning Catholic cathedrals on earth.

   How: Inside, stand in the center of the octagonal nave and look up. The dome is Diocletian's original construction — Roman, 1,700 years old, still load-bearing. The wooden choir stalls from the 13th century ring the space where the emperor's sarcophagus once sat. If you climb the Bell Tower (included in ticket), look northeast to spot Solin — Diocletian's birthplace, the city that no longer exists, where it all began.

   Backup: If the Cathedral is closed for services, the Peristyle itself is free and open all hours. The octagonal exterior of the mausoleum is visible and equally powerful from outside.

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3. 3 Drink Dalmatian Wine in the Emperor's Storage Vault Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: Back down to the palace basement. The entrance to the substructures (cellars) is either through the Bronze Gate from the Riva, or via the staircase descending from the Peristyle. Entry ticket: ~€8. For a guided wine tasting inside, book through Diocletian's Wine House (Julija Nepota 4, inside the palace walls) — ~€50 per person for a private tasting with 3 half-glasses of Croatian wine with cheese and prosciutto. Or go independently: find a bottle of Dingač Plavac Mali at any wine bar within the palace.

   What: These vaulted rooms once stored the food and wine for Diocletian's personal use — there is still a fragment of a Roman wine press on display in the cellars. The structure mirrors the imperial apartments directly above: archaeologists used this basement to reconstruct how the emperor's rooms once looked. You are drinking wine in the same proportional space where the emperor's dining room was, 1,700 years ago. What to order: Plavac Mali from Dingač or Postup on the Pelješac peninsula. The DNA story is extraordinary: in 1998, Dr. Carole Meredith at UC Davis proved via genetic fingerprinting that Plavac Mali is actually the CHILD of Zinfandel (Croatia's Crljenak Kaštelanski grape) — not its ancestor, as previously thought. This grape is native to this specific coastline. It grows on 45-60 degree slopes in Dingač that require three times the labor of flat vineyards. It regularly reaches 17% ABV from pure Adriatic sun. Ask for Grgić Vina Plavac Mali if available — Mike Grgich (the Croatian-American who made the Napa wine that beat France in the 1976 Paris Tasting) founded this winery on Pelješac and his wine has twice been named Croatia's best red.

   How: Taste it slowly. The tannin and dried-fruit intensity is not subtle — this is a wine shaped by 2,800 hours of annual sunshine on karst limestone cliffs above the Adriatic. You are tasting the terroir of this exact coastline that Diocletian looked at every day from his cryptoporticus windows.

   Backup: If Diocletian's Wine House is full, Bokeria Kitchen & Wine (Domaldova ul. 8, 2 min from the palace, open 9am-1am daily) has 160+ Croatian wines with ~40 by the glass. Book ahead in summer — it fills by 7pm.

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4. 4 Walk to Salona — the City Diocletian Was Born In Adventure · Price: low · Optional

   Where: Salona Archaeological Park, Solin — 5km northeast of Split. Take city bus no. 1 from Trg Gaje Bulata (Gaje Bulata Square, Split center) — departs every 30 minutes, single fare ~€2, journey ~20 minutes. Get off at Solin. Open Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9am-2pm. Entry €8 adults, €4 children. GPS: 43.5397, 16.4834.

   What: Salona was the capital of Roman Dalmatia — a city of 60,000 people, one of the largest in the late Roman empire. Diocletian was born here, the son of a freedman. He built his retirement palace specifically so he could look back at the hills where he grew up. In 614 AD — three centuries after Diocletian died — Avars and Slavs sacked and destroyed Salona completely. The surviving population fled the 5km to Split and moved inside Diocletian's palace walls. The palace wasn't designed to be a city; it became one by necessity. Salona today is Croatia's largest archaeological site: a Roman forum, amphitheatre (smaller than the Colosseum but hauntingly complete), public baths, theatre, and — most significantly — the early Christian basilicas where Saint Domnius preached before Diocletian had him killed. You can stand in the ruins of the bishop's church and look back toward the palace 5km away, where the emperor who ordered his death is now entombed as a Christian saint.

   How: Allow 1.5-2 hours. Start at the main entrance, walk the perimeter walls first to understand the city's scale, then find the amphitheatre (northeast corner) and the Christian necropolis (northwest). Guided tours in English available for €50 per group — worth it for the early Christian history layer. Bring water; there is little shade.

   Backup: If time is short, the short drive to Solin via taxi (~€10-12) lets you do a 45-minute walk of the amphitheatre and main street before returning to Split.

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Insider tips

• Wine bar Paradox in the palace basement is atmospheric

• Morning before cruise ships arrive is magical

• The cathedral is Diocletian's mausoleum

• Try Plavac Mali, Croatia's signature red