Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače)
Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače) is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Split audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~30 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type historic
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Split Split guide
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About Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače)
Vast Roman cellars raised to lift an emperor's apartments above the sea, buried in rubbish for centuries, then dug out, and cast as the dungeon where Daenerys keeps her dragons.
The substructures, or podrumi, are a vast series of Roman basement halls built in the early fourth century AD to raise and level Diocletian's imperial apartments above the sloping seafront. Because they carried the residential wing, their layout closely mirrors the plan of the now-lost apartments directly overhead, making them the main evidence for reconstructing those vanished rooms. For centuries the halls were packed with debris dropped from the dwellings built into the palace above; systematic clearing came mainly in the second half of the twentieth century, from the 1950s onward.
Today the central corridor and side halls host craft and souvenir stalls, exhibitions and events, linking the seafront Riva and the southern Bronze Gate up to the Peristyle. One hall displays Roman installations, including an oil or wine press and a large stone sarcophagus. Among the best-preserved ancient substructures anywhere, they also served as a Game of Thrones filming location, doubling for the dungeons of Meereen. They form part of the UNESCO World Heritage inscription of 1979.
Did you know? In Game of Thrones these cellars became the catacombs of Meereen, and the dim vault where Daenerys shackles her chained dragons, Split filming began with the fourth season, which aired in 2014.
How long should you spend at Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače)?
Plan about ~30 min at Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače). That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače) worth visiting?
Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače) is one of the 20 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Split, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
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Hear the story of Palace Substructures / Cellars (Podrumi Dioklecijanove palače)
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