18 Sep 2010 – From Antiquity to Present Day

• Ancient Greek: Aσπάλαθος Aspálathos/app 200BC…
• Latin: Spalatum/app 300AD…
• Medieval Dalmatian: Spalatro=little palace/10 century…
• Today Split.

After the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the province of Dalmatia, along with Split, became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes which in 1929 changed its name to Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Croatia declared its independence again in 1991.

Split is one of the oldest cities in the area and is traditionally considered just over 1,700yrs, while archaeological research relating to the ancient Greek colony of Aspálathos/6th century BC, thus establishes the city as being several hundred years older. In the years following 2000, Split finally gained a momentum and started to develop again. The focus mostly came on tourism. From being just a transition center, Split is now a major Croatian tourist destination, home of Diocletian’s Palace and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many new hotels are being built, as well as new apartment and office buildings. Large development projects are revived and new infrastructure is being built.

Founded in 1820, the Archaeological Museum is the oldest museum in Croatia. It has a large stock of archaeological objects from prehistoric times, from the period of the Greek colonization of the Adriatic and from the Roman, Early Christian and early Medieval ages. The impressive collections of coins, glass etc makes the visit a most interesting and educational one.

With perfect weather in this antiquity & medieval ambiance, life is like a fairy-tale in the delightful company of my childhood friends Kenson, Peggy & her husband Ian 🙂

Plato, who may have understood better what forms the mind of man than do some of our contemporaries who want their children exposed only to REAL people and everyday events—knew what intellectual experience made for true humanity. He suggested that the future citizens of his ideal republic begin their literary education with the telling of myths, rather than with mere facts or so-called rational teachings – Bruno Bettelheim