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Hidden gem3rd – 6th c. ADFree

Diocletian's Aqueduct

Dioklecijanov akvadukt, Aqueduct of Diocletian

aqueduct · Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia

What it is
Diocletian's Aqueduct is the Roman water channel, about 9 km long, that brought water from the source of the river Jadro to the emperor's palace in Split.
What you’ll see
The channel runs through cuttings and tunnels or is dug into the rock, and where it crosses low ground it rides on arches (hr.wikipedia).
Worth the trip?
As a short stop on the way between Split and Salona, yes: it costs nothing, and it shows the engineering that kept the palace supplied. It is not a destination on its own.
Getting there & cost
The standing arcade is in Solin, on the way from Split to Salona; the point on the map is the arcade itself (OpenStreetMap). It is in public streets, open at all times and free.FreeHours, tickets and parking
A long row of low stone arches running across a suburb between vegetable plots and a builder's yard, with modern houses and a bare limestone mountain behind.
The aqueduct crossing the suburbs of Solin below the mountains. · Photo: SchiDD · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A tall arcade of pale limestone arches on massive piers, seen from below at an angle, with a narrow road passing under the nearest arch and a road sign at its foot.
The tallest surviving stretch of arches, with a road running beneath them. · Photo: Draceane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A line of stone arches carrying a flat-topped channel above olive and fig trees, beside a road with a lamp post, under a clear sky.
The arcade above gardens beside the road. · Photo: Draceane · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Diocletian’s Aqueduct is the Roman water channel, about 9 km long, that brought water from the source of the river Jadro to the emperor’s palace in Split. Its most striking stretch is a row of tall stone arches standing among the houses of Solin, which you can walk and drive under.

What is there today

The channel runs through cuttings and tunnels or is dug into the rock, and where it crosses low ground it rides on arches (hr.wikipedia). The most impressive part is the arcade near Dujmovača in Solin, about 180 m long and up to 16.5 m high (en and hr.wikipedia). How much of what stands is Roman is not fully clear: the aqueduct was restored and put back into use in 1877–1880, when destroyed sections were rebuilt, above-ground parts were simplified with fewer arches, and stretches of the Roman vaulted channel were replaced with flat stone slabs (hr.wikipedia). It is being restored again today (en.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

As a short stop on the way between Split and Salona, yes: it costs nothing, and it shows the engineering that kept the palace supplied. It is not a destination on its own. The arches stand in an ordinary suburban street, among builders’ yards and gardens rather than in open landscape.

Getting there

The standing arcade is in Solin, on the way from Split to Salona; the point on the map is the arcade itself (OpenStreetMap). It is in public streets, open at all times and free. A paid car park is mapped nearby (OpenStreetMap).

Visiting details

Tickets
Free
Parking
A paid car park is mapped in the area (OSM way/256068274, fee=yes); the arches themselves stand beside a public road.

Before you go

  • This is a stretch of standing arches in a suburban street, with no visitor facilities; it is under restoration (en and hr.wikipedia), so parts may be fenced.

History

The aqueduct was built at the same time as Diocletian’s Palace, at the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century, to bring drinking water from the source of the Jadro to the palace and probably to the settlements around it; another aqueduct took water from the same source to Salona. The Goths damaged it in the middle of the 6th century, and it then stood dry for thirteen centuries. Rebuilt under Austrian rule in 1877–1880, it supplied Split again until 1932, when a pumping station at Kopilica took over and the aqueduct carried only surplus water; its water was declared unfit to drink after a typhoid epidemic in 1948, and it was cut off completely in 1979 (en and hr.wikipedia).

Nearby

  • A paved Roman court lined on the left by an arcade of granite columns carrying round arches, closed at the far end by a pedimented front on four columns with an arched opening, with visitors standing in the sun.

    Photo: Following Hadrian · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons

    4 km · palace · Split-Dalmatia County

    Diocletian's Palace

    The palace is an irregular rectangle of roughly 215 by 175–180 m, laid out like a legionary fort, with towers on its three landward walls and a gate in the middle of each side.

  • A rectangular block of conserved Roman walls of rough limestone, about head high, with a row of sloping buttresses along one side, standing in grass with fields and low hills behind.

    Photo: Ante Perković · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    21 km · fort · Split-Dalmatia County

    Tilurium

    The camp covered about 12 hectares, and the village of Gardun sits over it (en.wikipedia).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Wikidata Q1259993CC0
Vici.org 22721CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap relation/10002629ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — Aqueduct of DiocletianCC BY-SA 4.0
Wikipedia (hr) — Dioklecijanov akveduktCC BY-SA 4.0