Social Programme

Sunday, 30 November 2014, 19:30

Welcome reception in Diocletian's Palace basement halls.

(Transfer by buses will be organized from the hotel to the Welcome reception venue)

Diocletian's Palace

A palace built in Antiquity, during the reign of the emperor Diocletian. Remnants of the palace are nowadays part of the old town, and in 1979 UNESCO has listed Diocletian’s Palace in the register of World Cultural Heritage.

Emperor Diocletian was Dalmatia's most outstanding contribution to the Roman Empire. The only Roman Emperor who retired from the throne, he planned to spend his life in retirement nearby his birthplace (Salona, near Split) in this monumental fortified palace.

He began construction in 295 and for ten years oversaw the quarrying of stone from neighbouring Brac and the construction of his palace. Rectangular shaped Palace measures 215m from east to west and the walls are 26m high. Poised between the classical and the medieval Christian civilisation, Diocletian's Palace is a compendium of all the styles that preceded it.

After the Middle Ages the Palace was virtually unknown in the West until publishing of the works of Scottish neo-classical architect Robert Adam, published in London in 1764, and the paintings of French painter Louis-François Cassas, published by Joseph Lavallée in Paris in 1802 in the chronicles of his voyages.

The Palace is now a commercial and residential centre, a development which dates to the 7th century when nearby residents fled to the walled palace to escape invading barbarians, converting tracts of the Palace to houses, corridors to streets, and yards to squares.

The basements of the Diocletian's Palace, with its perimeter walls and well preserved cult center present the best reserved antique complex of this type. Their architectural purpose was to raise the imperial residential area in the upper floor. Based on these foundations it is possible to reconstruct the appearance of the upper residential area and to deduct their original purpose. In the early Middle Ages a part of it was inhabited, and in one of the halls wine and oil were manufactured. Further construction of the upper area turned it into the refuse pit for the houses above. Today the subterranean area is accessible through the Porta Aenea, or through a staircase from Peristil.

The excavation of the subterranean area was initiated an organized in the mid 19th century by an architect Vicko Andric, first restorer in Split and Croatia. The cellars are still alive today. Art exhibitions and theatre plays are regularly organized here, especially interesting is the traditional International Flower show held n May. The exploratory and restoration work is still in progress, in the western and the eastern part of the cellars. It is worth mentioning that the eastern part became accessible to the general public since May 1995, after the annual celebration of the patron saint, St. Dujam (St. Domnius).

Tuesday 2 December 2014, 20:00

Gala dinner in Kadena restaurant

Kadena restaurant website and Google Maps location.