Established | 1820 |
---|---|
Location | Zrinsko-Frankopanska 25, Split, Croatia |
Coordinates | 43°30′56″N16°26′4″E / 43.51556°N 16.43444°E |
Type | Archaeological museum |
Key holdings | Greek colonization of the Adriatic, Roman Provincial and Early Christian era to the early Middle Ages. |
Collection size | 150,000 |
Website | http://www.mdc.hr/split-arheoloski/nj/index.html Museum |
The Split Archaeological Museum is the oldest museum in Croatia, established in 1820 by a decree of the Dalmatian government in Zadar. [1] Some 150,000 artifacts cover prehistoric times, the period of Greek colonization of the Adriatic, Roman Provincial and Early Christian era to the early Middle Ages and the period of Croatian popular rulers. There is a collection of stone inscriptions from Salona and the collections of Graeco-Hellenistic ceramic objects, Roman glass, ancient clay lamps, bone, and metal articles, gems and coins.
The museum is housed at Zrinsko-Frankopanska 25 in Split. There is also a branch building in Solin (Salona and Tusculum ) and two regional centres at Vid near Metković (Narona Collection), and on the island of Vis. [1]
The museum complex consists of a two-story main building, with the exhibition halls on the ground floor and the museum library and study rooms on the 1st floor. A row of arcades surrounding the main building house the lapidarium, and there is an attached garden.
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Split humanist Dominik Papalic brought together a collection of ancient writing and picture tablets in his house, which he and poet Marko Marulić had found in the ruins of ancient Solin (Salona). In 1750 Papalic founded a museum. [1]
The Split Archaeological Museum was founded in 1820 by the decree of the Dalmatian government in Zadar after a visit of Emperor Francis I to Dalmatia in 1818. [1] The original museum building was erected in 1821 next to the eastern walls of Diocletian's Palace but this soon became too small to house the growing number of artifacts. [1]
The Catholic priest, archaeologist, and historical researcher Frane Bulić was the museum director starting from 1884 for more than fifty years. [1] He founded the first Croatian archaeological society in 1894 and developed the building of the second museum building from 1912 to 1914. [1] The new building was built according to the plans of the Viennese architects, August Kirstein and Friedrich Ohmann in the neo-Romanesque style. [1] [2] The First World War delayed the opening of the new museum building, and the government only opened it to the public in early 1922. [1]
The exhibits are mainly based on Split and Salona finds.
A central part of the museum is a collection of stone inscriptions from Salona and Graeco-Hellenistic ceramic objects, Roman glass, ancient clay lamps, bone and metal articles, gems, medieval coins and an underwater archaeological collection. [1]
The museum does archaeological research in Salona, Issa, and Narona. The museum has two other collections in Vid near Metković and on the island of Vis. [1]
Since 1878, the Museum has published the first archaeological journal, entitled Bullettino di archeologia e storia dalmata ( Journal of Dalmatian Archeology and History ). [2]
The collections cover the entire history of Dalmatia from prehistory to the early Middle Ages. The museum also has an extensive collection of over 70,000 ancient and medieval coins and significant library and archive holdings.
The museum has eight collections:
Dalmatia is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Central Croatia, Slavonia, and Istria, located on the east shore of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia.
Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of 396 square kilometres (153 sq mi), making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is 5 to 13 km wide. The island's tallest peak, Vidova gora, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 780 m (2,560 ft), making it the highest point of the Adriatic islands. The island has a population of 13,931, living in twenty-two settlements, ranging from the main town Supetar, with more than 3,400 inhabitants, to Murvica, where less than two dozen people live. Brač Airport on Brač is the largest airport of all islands surrounding Split.
Zadar is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serves as the seat of Zadar County and of the wider northern Dalmatian region. The city proper covers 25 km2 (9.7 sq mi) with a population of 75,082 in 2011, making it the second-largest city of the region of Dalmatia and the fifth-largest city in the country.
Trogir is a historic town and harbour on the Adriatic coast in Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia, with a population of 10,923 (2011) and a total municipal population of 13,192 (2011). The historic city of Trogir is situated on a small island between the Croatian mainland and the island of Čiovo. It lies 27 kilometres west of the city of Split.
Split-Dalmatia County is a central-southern Dalmatian county in Croatia. The administrative center is Split. The population of the county is 455,242 (2011). The land area is 4.540 km2, the total area is 14.106,40 km2. Split-Dalmatia County is Croatia's most rapidly urbanising and developing region, as economic opportunities and living standards are among the highest alongside capital Zagreb and Istria County.
Salona was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. It was the last residence of the final western Roman Emperor Julius Nepos and acted as the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire during the years 476-480. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia.
Solin is a town and a suburb of Split, in Split-Dalmatia county, Croatia. It is situated right northeast of Split, on the Adriatic Sea and the river Jadro.
Nin is a town in the Zadar County of Croatia.
Metković is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Liburnia in ancient geography was the land of the Liburnians, a region along the northeastern Adriatic coast in Europe, in modern Croatia, whose borders shifted according to the extent of the Liburnian dominance at a given time between 11th and 1st century BC. Domination of the Liburnian thalassocracy in the Adriatic Sea was confirmed by several Antique writers, but the archeologists have defined a region of their material culture more precisely in northern Dalmatia, eastern Istria, and Kvarner.
The Liburnians or Liburni were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers Arsia (Raša) and Titius (Krka) in what is now Croatia. According to Strabo's Geographica, they populated Kerkyra until shortly after the Corinthians settled the island, c. 730 BC.
The History of Dalmatia concerns the history of the area that covers eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its inland regions, from the 2nd century BC up to the present day. The region was populated by Illyrian tribes around 1,000 B.C, including the Delmatae, who formed a kingdom and for whom the province is named. Later it was conquered by Rome, thus becoming the province of Dalmatia, part of the Roman Empire. Dalmatia was ravaged by barbaric tribes in the beginning of the 4th century.
Narona was an Ancient Greek trading post on the Illyrian coast and later Roman city and bishopric, located in the Neretva valley in present-day Vid, Croatia, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.
Vid is a village in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia, administered as a part of the city of Metković.
Frane Bulić was a Croatian priest, archaeologist, and historian.
Croatian art describes the visual arts in Croatia, and art by Croatian artists from prehistoric times to the present. In Early Middle Ages, Croatia was an important centre for art and architecture in south eastern Europe. There were many Croatian artists during the Medieval period, and the arts flourished during the Renaissance. Later styles in Croatia included Baroque and Rococo.
Split, is the second-largest city of Croatia, after the capital Zagreb, the largest city in Dalmatia and the largest city on the Croatian coast. It lies on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and is spread over a central peninsula and its surroundings. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is linked to the Adriatic islands and the Apennine Peninsula. More than 900,000 tourists visit it each year.
Desilo is an underwater archaeological site in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, located near the Neretva river and the Croatian border. The site was first discovered in the late 20th century, but Desilo's history can be traced as far back as ancient times. Investigations by a University of Mostar archaeological team in 2007 uncovered many sunken boats at the bottom of the small lake in Desilo valley. The archaeologists believe these boats to be Illyrian ships, dating back to the first and second centuries B.C. Further excavations in 2008 by University of Oslo archaeologists found evidence suggesting that Desilo was an Illyrian trading post. These archaeological findings are significant because they are the first known discovery of Illyrian ships. Additionally, Desilo functioning as a trading centre suggests there were peaceful interactions between the Illyrians and the Romans.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Split, Croatia.
The city of Split was founded as the Greek colony of Aspálathos (Aσπάλαθος) in the 3rd or 2nd century BC. It became a prominent settlement around 650 CE when it succeeded the ancient capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia, Salona. After the Sack of Salona by the Avars and Slavs, the fortified Palace of Diocletian was settled by the Roman refugees. Split became a Byzantine city, to later gradually drift into the sphere of the Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Croatia, with the Byzantines retaining nominal suzerainty. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, caught in the middle of a struggle between Venice and the King of Hungary for control over the Dalmatian city-states.