Review article

Diocletian’s Palace in Split after the Emperor’s death

Stanko Piplović

Abstract

In many ways, Diocletian’s Palace was a unique
architectural achievement in Europe during Late Antiquity.
Over the past 150 years, considerable attention
has been dedicated to research into it as well as its
upkeep. It has served as something of a testing ground
for new theoretical postulates and methods for work.
Today the Palace has a distinguished place in art history.
Its features have been known for some time now,
but new research yielding unusual discoveries have essentially
altered the picture of its spatial organization
and fundamental adaptations which occurred therein
at its very beginnings. This will certainly necessitate
a re-examination of theories on the first changes to its
use when the Roman Empire was still extant, when
Diocletian’s villa was transformed into a city. A new
approach to explanations of their function is necessitated
by two subsequently-built bath complexes in the
Palace, which were previously unknown and which
only began to be studied roughly fifty years ago.

Keywords

Split; Late Antiquity; Diocletian’s Palace; baths; sulphur water; Basilicae pictae; waterfront

Hrčak ID:

173043

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/173043

Publication date:

22.12.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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