Eastern (Silver) Gate
Roman gateway buried inside a parish church for centuries, revealed again after wartime bombing.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Eastern, or Silver, Gate in Split opens in nineteen fifty-two, when workers digging through a bombed-out church found something that had stood in plain sight for centuries. It traces Porta Orientalis back to Diocletian's retirement palace in the early fourth century, then follows how refugees turned the guard corridor above it into a tiny church around the sixth century, one that grew for generations until it swallowed the old Roman gateway whole and shoppers at the market outside had no idea an imperial doorway lay buried beneath their parish church. Stand where the old gate meets Pazar, Split's open-air market, crates of fruit pressed against the ancient stone.
This audio guide was created using AI.