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The Purification and Redevelopment of the Eastern Temenos of Diocletian’s Palace in the 19th Century
Stanko Piplović
Sažetak
In the 19th century, the historical centre of Split, particularly the part inside the perimeter of Diocletian’s Palace, was densely populated, with narrow lanes, dark and airless. The most important Antique buildings, the Temple, the Peristyle, the Vestibule and the Mausoleum were in a fairly good state of preservation, but had been completely neglected. In addition, they had been stifled by houses built on later that so encircled them that they could be seen from no direction.
The whole of the area was poorly explored, and it was only in the middle of the century that any very great interest was shown in the remains of the Roman palace; still, however, little was done in the way of protection and presentation. The situation continued to deteriorate, and it was not until 1873 that the Ministry in Vienna sent down three professors to Split to determine the situation and propose a solution for putting it in order. At the beginning, attention was devoted to the Antique buildings, the oldest and most valuable stratum.
The most complicated situation was in the eastern temenos of Diocletian’s Palace, in the consecrated space that with its wall enclosed the emperor’s tomb. At that time, in and immediately around it, was a series of more recent, ordinary buildings that completely blocked off and stifled the monumental building of the former Mausoleum, now the Cathedral. The Viennese experts, headed by Dr Alexander Conze, submitted a report about the operations on the Mausoleum required and the demolition of a large number of worthless buildings around it, in order for the Roman building to appear in its proper prominence.
On the western side of the eastern temenos was the open space of the Antique Peristyle, which was used as the church square. They were divided from each other by a colonnade supporting semicircular arches. Behind them, in the space of the temenos, in front of the Mausoleum, there was a sequence of buildings that had their main facades built in between the Roman columns. These were the chapel of St Roch, 16th century, and next to it, that of St Barbara, 17th century, and then after that southwards a café building and the private house of the Petrini. Along the whole of the northern side of the temenos, extending from west to east, was the building of the old episcopal palace built in the 17th century, with its two small wings towards the south. It was partially built on the Roman portico lining the street, and partially on the Decumanus of the imperial palace. It was too dilapidated for the bishops to live in anymore. With the narrow street in front of it, it was encumbered with the passing of pedestrians in this much-frequented and cramped part of the city, which had grown rapidly in the 19th century.
On the eastern side in the extension of the Cathedral was a choir, put up in the 17th century. The extension was in a half of its area within the temenos, while the second half came out of it through the wall outside. South of the Mausoleum, abutting onto the outer side of the wall of the temenos, were private buildings, a sacristy and the Early Medieval Chapel of St Matthew. The chapel was demolished in 1880, and the sarcophagi of the archbishops of Split that had been in it for centuries were moved to the side of the altar in St John’s Baptistery. At that time small buildings, numbers 450, 472 and 473, close to the Vestibule of Diocletian’s own quarters were pulled down so that the rotunda could be renovated, and for there to be a view onto the Mausoleum on that side as well.
Putting in order the neglected space of the eastern temenos, hemmed in with buildings, and its immediate surroundings, was the most demanding problem within the compass of Diocletian’s Palace. A systematic solution was addressed only in the early 20th century, when, in 1904, a Standing Commission for Diocletian’s Palace was set up, to meet every year in Split. It had representatives of local and regional government, and experts from Vienna. The biggest problem in terms of scope, position of complexity and from the viewpoint of the new conservation principles, was the building of the old bishop’s palace, with its modest intimations of Baroque that extended to the north of the Mausoleum. The building hindered the flow of pedestrian traffic in this very busy part of the city and hid the view of the Mausoleum. There were major discussions about its future. Views diverged about the new approach concerning the need to keep up historical units, and the requirement that this part of the city should be provided with better conditions of life with respect to traffic and sanitation. In the 19th century, all the buildings that had occluded the Mausoleum, apart from the old bishop’s palace, had been torn down. But the problem was not solved until 1924, when the building burned down. At the turn of the 19th and 20th century, the Cathedral and the medieval bell tower were thoroughly restored, according to a drawing by the Viennese architecture Alois Hauser, who also oversaw the works.
Today the space of the eastern temenos is almost completely freed of later buildings and thus the most important stratum from Antiquity has been given prominence. But this has its drawbacks, because a large part of the south east quadrant of Diocletian’s Palace, bereft of its buildings, became empty and featureless, the picturesque charm of the setting having been destroyed.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
240926
URI
Datum izdavanja:
29.6.2020.
Posjeta: 776 *