Saturday, October 19
Split, Croatia
After walking around Split for a few days, Daniel and I decided to take a guided tour of the Dalmatian hinterland. Mostly we wanted to see Klis Fortress which is perched on a hilltop about 15 kilometers outside of town. The tour also included stops at Stella Croatica (a local family-owned food company) and VranjaÄa Cave.
On our way out of town, we saw pieces of old an Roman aqueduct from the tour bus.
In hindsight we should have just taken a local bus or a taxi to the fortress and skipped the tour. The stop at Stella Croatica was a thinly disguised excuse to get us in the gift shop and, since we have no room in our bags for olive oil or other souveniers, that held little interest for us.
Whole black truffles for 85 kn ($12.64 USD) at the Stella Croatica gift shop. Tempting but we don’t have room in our luggage.
The cave was more intriguing. Steps led deep into the ground where we saw a magnificent collection of stalagmites and stalactites. The cave’s owner explained how he cared for the cave and also pointed out formations that he thought looked like animals or people or other objects. It was a beautiful cave but at 45 minutes the tour felt a bit long.
Inside VranjaÄa Cave.
Look there’s an owl!
Look there’s a mother holding a child! And a bear!
We make a run for it.
But Klis Fortress was absolutely amazing. Perched on a hill overlooking Split, the fortress has a history stretching back over 2000 years.
Klis Fortress.
Often referred to as the key to Dalmatia, Klis Fortress was overtaken numerous times throughout the centuries as it is said that whoever controls the fortress controls the region. The fortress was also featured in the television show Game of Thrones as the exterior for the city of Meereen.
Walking up the path to Klis Fortress.
We only had one hour to explore Klis before we had to catch our tour bus, but we made the most of it and dashed all over the place exploring every nook and cranny.
Exploring Klis Fortress.
Exploring Klis Fortress.
Exploring Klis Fortress.
The views from the fortress were amazing, including a bird’s eye view of Split as well as the Mosor mountain range to the east. I was particularly interested in viewing Mount Mosor I had plans to hike there the following day. Stay tuned…
The view from Klis Fortress. That’s Split down below.
Daniel poses for a photo on Klis Fortress – with Split visible in the background.
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