We have only one night in Split because it is a pitstop on the way to Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina. But we have had enough time to wander through the old town and eat ice cream several times. It's really hot here. The climate has changed and is different from anywhere we've been so far.
The old town is built into the structure of Emperor Diocletian's summer palace. He was the last Roman emperor before Constantine came along in 313 A. D. and declared christianity to be the official religion. Diocletian was quite thorough in his persecution of christians. St. Euphemia (mentioned in my post on Rovinj) was one of his victims.
The streets of the town wander through the palace. Parts of the old town witnessed various iterations in different eras. For example, there is a monastery in one section and a Jewish ghetto was created in the 16th century.
The palace was excessively large. Two thousand slaves died during the initial construction phase -- Diocletian had it built quite rapidly.
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