Domesticity Within a Historical Centre: A Case for Safeguarding Diocletian’s Palace

Diocletian’s Palace is an ancient monument erected in the transitional period between the late 3rd and early 4th centuries CE. In the Middle Ages, it became part of the city, and today – as a World Heritage Site – it forms part of the historical center of Split, Croatia’s second-largest city. The Palace has continually responded to changes in the social and political life of its residents, but these changes did not engender new forms, rather fostered a long and continuous process of adapting the existing structures to the new functions and requirements. Considerable parts of the original were reused, and many parts were also added to over time. Thus, the result we are able to see and experience today inside the original perimetral walls of the palace stems from the natural coexistence of the ancient layer together with the medieval, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the past two centuries’ ones. Trapezoid in shape, the walls enclose an area that is 175–181 × 216 meters in size. It is divided into four quadrants and has two orthogonal streets – the Cardo and the Decumanus. The central square is located at the intersection of these two streets. The original, ancient parts of the Palace are robust and preserved enough to transmit the memory of the urban and architectural whole to which they once belonged. They are the dominant bearers of the appearance and identity of the entire urban bricolage – the spontaneous city that gradually developed around them. (Fig. 1)