Private Taste of Split Tour

Diocletian's Palace is an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split, Croatia. While it is referred to as a "palace" because of its intended use as the retirement residence of Diocletian, the term can be misleading as the structure is massive and more resembles a large fortress: about half of it was for Diocletian's personal use, and the rest housed the military garrison. The complex was built on a peninsula six kilometers (3.7 mi) southwest from Salona, the former capital of Dalmatia, one of the largest cities of the late empire with 60,000 people and the birthplace of Diocletian. The terrain around Salona slopes gently seaward and is typical karst, consisting of low limestone ridges running east to west with marl in the clefts between them. Today the remains of the palace are part of the historic core of Split, which in 1979 was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The Temple of Jupiter is a temple in Split, Croatia dedicated to the Ancient Roman god Jupiter. It is located in the western part of Diocletian's Palace near the Peristyle, the central square of the imperial complex. It was built between 295 and 305, during the construction of the Palace, and was probably turned into a Baptistery of St. John the Baptist in the 6th century, at the same time when the crypt dedicated to St. Thomas was built. Before the entrance to the Temple is one of the twelve sphinxes brought from Egypt by Emperor Diocletian. Scottish architect Robert Adam considered this temple to be one of Europe's most beautiful monuments.

A monumental court, the Peristyle, formed the northern access to the imperial apartments in front of the Vestibule. It also gave access to Diocletian's mausoleum on the east (today the Cathedral of Saint Domnius) and to three temples on the west (two of which are now lost, with the third, originally being the temple of Jupiter, becoming a baptistery). There is also a temple just to the west of the Peristyle called The Temple of Aesculapius, which has a semi-cylindrical roof built of stone blocks, which did not leak until the 1940s when it was covered with a lead roof. The temple was recently restored.

You will be introduced to the ways of tasting olive oil quality and presented with authentic Croatian wine varieties. The experience will be enriched with pairing olive oil with fleur de sel, aged red wine vinegar, homemade bread, green olive tapenade, mixed sheep and cow mill cheese and fig jam.