Explore Diocletian’s Palace: A Historical Gem in Split, Croatia

Now any Game of Thrones fan worth their salt knows Croatia plays a key role in the series. A lot of Daenerys’ scenes were shot here in Split and scenes from King’s Landing were filmed in Dubrovnik.

It’s very easy to take for granted while watching the series the reason behind the location choices in Game of Thrones, however, once you arrive in Croatia and start to learn a bit more about its rich history, you start to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for how magnificent these cities are!

History of Diocletian’s Palace

Diocletian (the owner of the Palace) was born in Dalmatia (which is part of Croatia including Split) and was born very much in the ‘lower class’ of society back in the day.

He fought his way up and eventually became Emperor of Rome and was one of the very few Emperors who actually retired.

He was feared and revered back in those days but he was awful to Christians, and according to our guide, this is why he’s not as well known an Emperor as some of the other Roman Emperors. Oh, and about the Palace—half of it was actually used by the military and the other half by Diocletian.

Exploring Split and Diocletian’s Palace

We started off on the outer walls of the palace…

As soon as you step in, you start to get a sense of how impressive the structure is and how huge the grounds are…

The courtyard is one of the most impressive and well-known parts of the palace! The iconic ‘money shot’ is obtained by walking to the other end of the courtyard. However, we were so taken with the stories of Diocletian that we pretty much missed that shot (I managed to get it much later on)…

The sphinx below is actually from Egypt and is one of Diocletian’s ‘forcefully obtained’ artefacts. Remarkably, the sphinx is over 3,500 years old—much older than the palace itself!

This place we were standing on is the infamous scene at the end of episode 4 in Season 5—without the scaffolding of course (I won’t say what happens so I don’t ruin it for those who haven’t watched it), but if you have, you probably recognize the floor, even with all the scaffolding going on…

As soon as you step into it, you start to remember parts of the episode, and I have to admit, it’s kind of impressive to see all these streets that you’ve only ever seen on one of the most successful TV series ever.

Eventually, we make our way back towards the city center, passing by landmarks hidden in plain sight…

Recommendation

I heartily recommend a visit to Diocletian’s Palace, even if not for the Game of Thrones aficionado in you, but for the lesson in Croatian history and the unique story of the people of Dalmatia.

Consequently, even though I was obsessed with GoT, I got to learn more about the history than I anticipated, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.