- the center of
the province of Illyricum and afterwards of the province
of Dalmatia. It developed into a cosmopolitan centre
of the Adriatic. The high point of its expansion was
during the time of Diocletian when it received the
honorary title Valeria, which as a family name belonged
to the emperor himself. In the period between the
IVth and Vlth centuries Salona became an important
centre of Christianity. It fell before the onslaught
of the Avars and Slavs around the year 641.
The Illyrian core of the city has been discovered
recently. A segment of the city walls with a monumental
gate (Porta Caesarea) and towers has been preserved
from the first Roman phase. The city quickly spread
to the East and West and in the IInd century was enclosed
with new walls. The Forum was located in the centre
of the city near the sea. In the Ist century a theatre
and baths were built next to it. A much better preserved
complex of baths was found to the East of the later
bishop's basilica in the eastern part of the city.
Here we also find the sumptuous Villa Urbana known
for its mosaics with depictions of Apollo Orpheus
Triton (now kept in the Split
Archaeological Museum). Within the fortification system
in the north-western corner of the city an amphitheatre
was raised in the IInd century. The great city necropolis
containing some of the most famous sarchophagi in
Solin stood alongside the road that led to Tragurium
(necropolis in horto Metrodori).
Christian graveyards with basilicas grew on pagan
necropoles. The oldest basilica is the one known as
"the basilica of the ve martyrs" on Kapljuc
next the city walls. The most complex is the one on
Manastirine, the starting point of most walks through
Solin. The most interesting in view of new architectural
solutions, is the Early Christian necropolis on Marusinac.
Two large basilicas (geminae) stood in the new Christian
centre of Salona.
The northern one had three naves, a baptistry and
the episcopal palace that was organically joined to
it. During the last phase the southern one received
a cross-like ground plan. Both were connected with
a narthex. It is important to mention that eight additional
basilicas have been explored within the city perimeter.
Most of the movable monuments from Salona are kept
in the Archaeological Museum, in Split which was founded
in 1821.
The old Croatian Solin
grew alongside the river Jadro to the East of the
ruins of the Antique city. The churches built by the
Early Medieval Croatian rulers have been thoroughly
investigated: St Mary's and St Stephen's churches,
the royal mausoleums alongside today's church of Our
Lady of the Isle, where the famous table containing
queen Jelena's epitaph was found, he church in Gradina
(possibly a reused Early Christian edifice) and King
Zvonimir's coronation "Hollow church" (Xlth
century) built on the foundations of one of the most
monumental Early Christian basilicas on the eastern
Adriatic coast. The remnants of the Benedictine monastery
in Ritince beneath Klis lie a little further from
this spot. A number of Old Croatian necropoles have
been explored in the surrounding area. The finds are
presented in the Museum of Croatian Archaeological
Monuments and in the Archaeological
Museum in Split. |
home 
