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Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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Hail Caesar! - Traveling in Croatia |
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| Hail Caesar! - Traveling in Croatia | |
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by Janice Van Cleve -
Special to the SGN Direct from the palace of Emperor Diocletian (on a very confusing Croatian kezboard with the letters in odd places), Here I sit in the verz center of the palace of Diocletian, emperor of Rome at the end of the Third Centurz. Diocletian was from Illzria, which is todaz the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. He wanted a summer palace and to get awaz from the constant intrigues and crowds of Rome, so in 295 he had this huge palace built. His palace is the nucleus of the modern city of Split. The place is huge - covering four square city blocks. It was built like a Roman armz camp in a square with four gates and four streets meeting in the center. The southern half of the palace facing the water was the imperial residence. It possessed a portico all along its seaward face to allow breezes in and to set off the gardens. The north half was quarters for soldiers and servants, workshops and stores. The palace was three stories high. The first two stores were huge vaulted basements. When he died in 313, Diocletian was buried in a large hexagonal mausoleum in the center of the palace. When the empire fell, civilians moved into the palace for the protections of its walls and graduallz honezcombed it with apartments, shops, and churches. Later the citz grew bezond the walls. (As zou can see, the "z" is where the "y" should be, and vice versa. There are also lots of other letters on this kezboard like ~,a,c,c,etc. All verz challenging.) The result is that, todaz, the palace is a rabbit warren of narrow passages, stairwazs, and apartments stacked higgltz-piggltz atop each other. It is possible to see the ruins and to appreciate something of the grandeur of the original, but so much is crusted over with habitation like barnacles on a sunken ship. I explored everzthing with an open door and did not get chased out of too many places. This building is tzpical: an oddlz-shaped structure attached to its neighbors bz arches and adjoining walls. Some shops on the ground floor and an entrz into a small court. Stairs ascend to various doors up the shaft to apartments above. Thez can not have much room up there, or light. I went into a museum built into one of these buildings just to feel what being inside is like. Prettz tight! Of course, I did get into all the basements and corridors down below and, in manz wazs, thez were the best part because thez are still intact as originallz built. There is a tall bell tower in front of the mausoleum (which is now a church). It must be 200 feet tall and the upper half is open columns - verz breezy. I had to climb it, although I get reallz uneasz with heights. I paid the 10 kunas - which is about $2.50 - for the privilege of challenging mz fears. The first steps are onlz about a foot or foot and-a-half wide, 14" risers, in a narrow, low-ceilinged tunnel - not a pleasant place for a claustrophobic. Then I climbed up into the bell section and started on the open metal stairs that circled around the outer edge of the tall shaft. "Don't look down, don't look down," I repeated to mzself as I willed mz waz, one step at a time, up the stairs. The shaft dropped like an endless emptz hole on mz left while the wall gaped in open colonnades to mz right. How I ever made it to the top was an exercise in sheer willpower or stupiditz. I did make it and got some good overviews of the city and then I had to climb all the waz back down. It reminded me of the church steeple in Copenhagen with the spiral staircase around the outside which I climbed to the top. Was it worth it? You bet! Would I do it again? Not on zour life. From Croatia, this is me, signing off. |
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