The fortress by the sea (Split, Croatia)
We all want to retire in a place somewhere in the countryside in old age. Ideally, we would like to have a house there and if it is by the sea and has a garden, it gets even better.
Diocletian, one of the last emperors of ancient Rome did exactly this in the beginning of the 4th century AD. He constructed a palace on the Dalmatian coast and spent his retirement years tending to his vegetable garden after abdicating the throne due to illness. It did not matter if the colossal size of the construction reminded more of a fortress and that half the building was used to house a military garrison.
Diocletian was an important emperor in the ancient Roman history: he made radical changes in the government structure and helped the stabilisation of the economy and the army, which granted the Empire another 100 years of life with all its conquests intact.
The palace remained deserted after the Romans left until local people sought refuge from invaders within its walls in the 7th century. The construction remained unknown until the 18th century when it rediscovered and inspired the style of the Neoclassical architecture.
The palace has been excellently preserved, it constitutes one of the most important architectural and cultural monuments and the most complete ancient Roman palace in the world in an outstanding location in the Mediterranean region. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Monument in 1979. It was used as one of the settings in the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones.
I came across this video of the reconstruction of the palace, which is quite interesting:
More info on the monument:
Wikipedia
UNESCO
Croatian National Tourism Board
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| Image source: Musement |
Diocletian, one of the last emperors of ancient Rome did exactly this in the beginning of the 4th century AD. He constructed a palace on the Dalmatian coast and spent his retirement years tending to his vegetable garden after abdicating the throne due to illness. It did not matter if the colossal size of the construction reminded more of a fortress and that half the building was used to house a military garrison.
Diocletian was an important emperor in the ancient Roman history: he made radical changes in the government structure and helped the stabilisation of the economy and the army, which granted the Empire another 100 years of life with all its conquests intact.
The palace remained deserted after the Romans left until local people sought refuge from invaders within its walls in the 7th century. The construction remained unknown until the 18th century when it rediscovered and inspired the style of the Neoclassical architecture.
 |
| Image source: Split Croatia Travel Guide |
The palace has been excellently preserved, it constitutes one of the most important architectural and cultural monuments and the most complete ancient Roman palace in the world in an outstanding location in the Mediterranean region. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Monument in 1979. It was used as one of the settings in the fourth season of the HBO series Game of Thrones.
I came across this video of the reconstruction of the palace, which is quite interesting:
More info on the monument:
Wikipedia
UNESCO
Croatian National Tourism Board
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