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Partner site Secret Dalmatia-Magic of Croatia take us on a dramatic tour of the Croatian Maritime museum in Split. The post contains some great piccies, including one of the world’s oldest (unexploded!) torpedo!
Split harbour at night, by ruscca
The museum is actually up on the hill of Gripe, which also contains one of the finest late 17th century fortifications in Dalmatia, built to protect Diocletian’s Palace from marauding Ottoman Turks. The Palace was saved just in time and only by the combined efforts of Venetians, Split residents and volunteers of Trogir, Makarska and Hvar.
The museum’s most famous possession is a huge Roman pithos (amphorae) found in Kaštela, as well as models of ships, preserved tools and associated equipment from many historical periods. In WWII, fishing vessels became patrol boats and fought the much more powerful German fleet! The Gripe museum is also thought to keep the worlds oldest torpedo collection!
The January 2010 exhibition will cover the whole of the shipbuilding tradition in Split. This will also be something of an anti-EU protest, as the authors feel that the EU is apparently trying to remove the shipbuilding tradition from Split! I guess there must be a price attached to flying the EU 12-star on blue (flag)!
The garden also is very worthwhile visiting, not least for the boats on display.
The inexpensive fee includes a private tour, which is obligatory as the artifacts can actually be touched (at least at the time of writing this article!)
Also see our other suggestions for off the beaten track Croatia.
