Cathedral Bell Tower
Cathedral Bell Tower features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Split. Give it roughly ~25 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type landmark
- Suggested visit ~25 min
- Split Split guide
About Cathedral Bell Tower
Split's soaring signature on the skyline, a medieval bell tower, not a Roman one, and largely rebuilt around 1900, with roughly 183 steps to the finest view in town.
The bell tower of the Cathedral of Saint Domnius is a free-standing Romanesque-Gothic campanile rising on the western edge of the Peristyle, and the defining symbol of Split's skyline. Although it stands over the Roman mausoleum-cathedral, it is a separate medieval structure, not part of the ancient palace. Work began in the thirteenth century, with some elements possibly earlier, and continued for several centuries, into the fifteenth or sixteenth. It reaches roughly fifty-seven metres.
By the late nineteenth century the tower had decayed badly, and between about 1890 and 1908 it was almost completely dismantled and reconstructed, a process in which much of the original medieval sculpture was lost or replaced. Visitors can climb its narrow internal staircase of roughly 183 steps to a panorama over the old town, the harbour and the surrounding hills.
Did you know? Though it rises from a Roman palace, the tower itself is not Roman at all, it is a medieval campanile, begun in the 13th century as a Christian addition to the pagan complex.
How long is a visit to Cathedral Bell Tower?
Set aside roughly ~25 min for Cathedral Bell Tower. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Cathedral Bell Tower worth your time?
Cathedral Bell Tower is among the 20 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Split, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Split
Day 1 of the Split in 2 days itinerary →
Updated:
Hear the story of Cathedral Bell Tower
Preview the Split tour free in the Gingerguide app.