Siena

Siena ( , ; in English sometimes spelled Sienna; ) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
History.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were a tribe of advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called "Saena Julia" was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones.
According to local legend, Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Supposedly after their father's murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking with them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants (Capitoline Wolf), thus appropriating that symbol for the town. Additionally they rode white and black horses, giving rise to the "Balzana", or coat of arms of Siena with a white band atop a dark band. Some claim the name Siena derives from Senius. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name "Saina", the Roman family name "Saenii", or the Latin word "senex" "old" or its derived form "seneo" "to be old".
Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade. Its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. After the Lombard occupation, the old Roman roads of Via Aurelia and the Via Cassia passed through areas exposed to Byzantine raids, so the Lombards rerouted much of their trade between the Lombards' northern possessions and Rome along a more secure road through Siena. Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to and from Rome provided a valuable source of income in the centuries to come.
The oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards' surrender in 774 to Charlemagne. At this point, the city was inundated with a swarm of Frankish overseers who married into the existing Sienese nobility and left a legacy that can be seen in the abbeys they founded throughout Sienese territory. Feudal power waned, however, and by the death of Countess Matilda in 1115 the border territory of the March of Tuscany which had been under the control of her family, the Canossa, broke up into several autonomous regions. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the Republic of Siena.
The Republic existed for over four hundred years, from the 12th century until 1555. During the golden age of Siena before the Black Death in 1348, the city was home to 50,000 people.
In the Italian War of 1551–59, the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown. After 18 months of resistance, Siena surrendered to Spain on 17 April 1555, marking the end of the republic.
The new Spanish King Felipe II, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it (apart from a series of coastal fortresses annexed to the State of Presidi) to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.
A Republican government of 700 Sienese families in Montalcino resisted until 1559.
Geography.
Siena is located in the central part of Tuscany, in the middle of a vast hilly landscape between the Arbia river valley (south), the Merse valley (south-west), the Elsa valley (north), the Chianti hills (north-east), the Montagnola Senese (west) and the Crete Senesi (south-east). The city lies at above sea level.
Climate.
Siena has a typical inland Mediterranean climate. Average rainfall is , with the maximum in November and the minimum in July. July is the hottest month, with an average temperature of , and January the coldest.
Main sights.
The Siena Cathedral ("Duomo"), begun in the 12th century, is a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque–Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380 with a nave oriented northeast–southwest. A proposed expansion of the eastern transept would have transformed the church into an ambitiously massive basilica, the largest then in the world, with an east–west nave. However, the scarcity of funds, in part due to war and the Black Death, truncated the project. Two walls of this expanded eastern transept remain; through an internal staircase, visitors can climb for a grand view of the city.
The Siena Cathedral Pulpit is an octagonal 13th-century masterpiece sculpted by Nicola Pisano with lion pedestals and biblical bas-relief panels. The inlaid marble mosaic floor of the cathedral, designed and labored on by many artists, is among the most elaborate in Italy. The Sacristy and Piccolomini library have well preserved Renaissance frescos by Ghirlandaio and Pinturicchio respectively. Other sculptors active in the church and in the subterranean baptistry are Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia and others. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo contains Duccio's famous "Maestà" (1308–11) and various other works by Sienese masters. More Sienese paintings are to be found in the Pinacoteca, e.g. 13th-century works by Dietisalvi di Speme.
The Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped town square, unfurls before the Palazzo Pubblico with its tall Torre del Mangia. This is part of the site for the "Palio" horse race. The Palazzo Pubblico, itself a great work of architecture, houses yet another important art museum. Included within the museum is Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes depicting the "Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government" and also some of the finest frescoes of Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti.
The Palazzo Salimbeni, located in a piazza of the same name, was the original headquarters and remains in possession of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest banks in continuous existence in Europe.
Housed in the notable Gothic Palazzo Chigi-Saracini on Via di Città is the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena's conservatory of music.
Other churches in the city include:
The historic Siena synagogue is also preserved and open to visitors.
The city's gardens include the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Siena, a botanical garden maintained by the University of Siena.
The Medicean Fortress houses the Enoteca Italiana and the Siena Jazz School, with courses and concerts throughout the year, and a festival during the International Siena Jazz Masterclasses.
In the neighbourhood are numerous patrician villas, some of which are attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi:
Culture.
Contrade.
Siena retains a ward-centric culture from medieval times. Each ward ("contrada") is represented by an animal or mascot, and has its own boundary and distinct identity. Ward rivalries are most rampant during the annual horse race (Palio) in the Piazza del Campo. There are 17 wards (contrada): Aquila, Bruco, Chiocciola, Civetta, Drago, Giraffa, Istrice, Leocorno, Lupa, Nicchio, Oca, Onda, Pantera, Selva, Tartuca, Torre, Valdimontone.
The Palio.
The Palio di Siena is a traditional medieval horse race run around the Piazza del Campo twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August. The event is attended by large crowds, and is widely televised. Ten randomly selected from 17 Contrade (which are city neighbourhoods originally formed as battalions for the city's defence) vie for the trophy: a painted banner, or "Palio" bearing an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Art.
Over the centuries, Siena has had a rich tradition of arts and artists. The list of artists from the Sienese School include Duccio and his student Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and Martino di Bartolomeo. A number of well-known works of Renaissance and High Renaissance art still remain in galleries or churches in Siena.
The Church of " San Domenico" contains art by Guido da Siena, dating to the mid-13th century. Duccio's "Maestà", which was commissioned by the City of Siena in 1308, was instrumental in leading Italian painting away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art and directing it towards more direct presentations of reality. And his "Madonna and Child with Saints" polyptych, painted between 1311 and 1318, remains at the city's "Pinacoteca Nazionale".
The Pinacoteca also includes several works by Domenico Beccafumi, as well as art by Lorenzo Lotto, Domenico di Bartolo and Fra Bartolomeo.
Economy.
The main activities are tourism, services, agriculture, handicrafts and light industry.
Agriculture.
Agriculture constitutes Siena's primary industry. , Siena's agricultural workforce comprises 919 companies with a total area of for a UAA (usable agricultural area) of or about of the total municipal area (data ISTAT for the 2000 Agriculture Census "V").
Industry and manufacturing.
The industrial sector of the Sienese economy is not very developed. However, the area has seen recent growth in important core manufacturing enterprises.
The confectionery industry is one of the most important of the traditional sectors of the secondary industry, because of the many local specialties. Among the best known are Panforte, a precursor to modern fruitcake, Ricciarelli biscuits, made out of almond paste, and the well-known gingerbread, and the horses. Also renowned is Noto, a sweet made out of honey, almonds and pepper. The area known for making these delicacies ranges between Tuscany and Umbria. Other seasonal specialties are the chestnut and the "pan de 'Santi" (or "Pan co' Santi") traditionally prepared in the weeks preceding the Festival of Saints, 1 November.
All are marketed both industrial and artisan bakeries in different cities.
The area has also seen a growth in biotechnology. The Centenary Institute Sieroterapico Achille Sclavo used to be Swiss-owned, operating under the company name, Novartis Vaccines. Novartis developed and produced vaccines and employed about a thousand people. In 2015, the research plant in Siena became part of Glaxo Smith Kline, as part of a deal between Novartis and this firm.
Professional sports.
Associazione Calcio Siena (football) was founded in 1904 and fully established in 1908. It was first promoted to Italy's top league, Serie A, for the 2003–04 season and stayed in this serie for nine seasons. After the club's bankruptcy in 2014, a new club named Società Sportiva Robur Siena took its place and had to restart from Serie D. Currently it is in Lega Pro league. The club hosts its games at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The premier society of men's basketball in Siena was called Mens Sana Basket (also referred to by its sponsored name of "Montepaschi Siena"). It is also the oldest sports society in Siena. Mens Sana Basket participated in the highest level of play in Italy, Lega Basket Serie A, and it has won the national championship eight times, with a streak of seven (2004 and 2007–13). The team host their home games at PalaEstra indoor arena. Like the local football team, the club went through financial issues in 2014, and its place was taken by the new club Mens Sana 1871, currently in the Serie A2 league. The city co-hosted the EuroBasket 1979.
Siena hosts the start and finish of the Strade Bianche, a professional cycling race famous for its historic white gravel roads, called "strade bianche" or "sterrati" in Italian. More than of the race is run over dirt roads, usually country lanes and farm tracks twisting through the hills and vineyards of the Chianti region. The finish is on the Piazza del Campo, after a steep and narrow climb on the roughly paved Via Santa Caterina leading into the center of the medieval city.
In 2015 the volleyball team Emma Villas, based in Chiusi (a small town in the Siena Province) was promoted in Serie A2 and decided to move to Siena, aiming at a wider audience, hosting its games at PalaEstra.
Amateur sports.
Siena is home to several amateur basketball teams. These include the Associazione Sportiva Costone Basket and Virtus Siena.
There exist several female university sports teams organised under the CUS (Centro Universitario Sportivo). These include such sports as fencing, volleyball and rugby, and a basketball team composed exclusively of students of the University of Siena.
Transport.
The nearest international airports to Siena are Peretola Airport in Florence and Galileo Galilei International Airport in Pisa. There are two to three buses daily (Sena line) between Siena and Bologna Airport as well.
Siena can be reached by train from both Pisa and Florence, changing at Empoli. Siena railway station is located at the bottom of a long hill outside the city walls. A series of escalators connects the train station with the old city on top of hill.
Buses leave from Piazza Gramsci, located within the city walls. Buses are available directly to and from Florence, a one-hour trip, as well as from Rome (three hours), Milan (four and a half hours), and from various other towns in Tuscany and beyond.
Road.
By road, Siena is linked to Florence by a "superstrada" (the "Raccordo Autostradale RA03 – Siena-Firenze"), a form of toll free autostrada. The superstrada to Florence is indicated on some road signs with the letters SI-FI, referring to province abbreviations. A continuation of the same four-lane road to the south-east
will facilitate the drive towards Perugia and to Rome by the A1 highway.
Almost no automobile traffic is permitted within the city centre. Several large car parks are located immediately outside the city walls. The "La Fortezza" and "Il Campo" car parks are closest to the centre; free parking areas are further out (near Porta Romana). Commercial traffic is permitted within the city only during morning hours.
Twin towns.
Siena is twinned with:


Babelsberg

Babelsberg () is the largest district of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as for Babelsberg Studio, a historical centre of the German film industry and the first large-scale movie studio of the world.
History.
A settlement on the small Nuthe creek was first mentioned in the 1375 "Landbuch" (domesday book) by Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg, who also ruled as Margrave of Brandenburg since 1373. Then called "Neuendorf" (New Village) after its former West Slavic name "Nova Ves", it was shelled several times and was severely damaged during the Thirty Years' War.
In the mid-18th century the new village of Nowawes was founded by King Frederick II of Prussia and settled with Protestant Bohemian deportees, predominantly weavers who as descendants of the Unity of the Brethren had fled from the suppression in the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy under Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. During the Industrial Revolution the area developed into a centre of textile and carpet manufacturing, and—at the premises of Orenstein & Koppel, from 1899 on—also of the railway production. For decades German "Neuendorf" and Bohemian "Nowawes" () bordered on each other but remained separate municipalities until their official unification in 1907. Nowawes received town privileges in 1924.
From about 1900 the mansion colony of "Neubabelsberg" arose east of Babelsberg Park on the southern shore of the Griebnitzsee lake. After the Universum Film AG (UFA) in 1922 had acquired a large backlot nearby, these villas built by famous architects like Hermann Muthesius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became popular residences of numerous film stars. Marika Rökk, Sybille Schmitz, Lilian Harvey, Willy Fritsch and Brigitte Horney lived and worked here when film production by the UFA continued without a break in the Nazi period, while many Jewish actors and directors were dispossessed and had to flee from Germany. In 1938 Nowawes and Neubabelsberg merged and were incorporated into Potsdam one year later, becoming the district of Potsdam-Babelsberg.
During the 1945 Potsdam Conference the representatives of the victorious Allies Joseph Stalin, President Harry S. Truman and Prime Minister Winston Churchill (succeeded by Clement Attlee) resided in mansions of Neubabelsberg. At the "Truman-Villa" the President issued the Potsdam Declaration and gave orders for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Today the building serves as the seat of the liberal Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
Babelsberg Palace.
In 1833 Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern had obtained the consent of his father King Frederick William III of Prussia to build a summer residence for him and his spouse Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach on the slope of the Babelsberg hill, overlooking the Havel river. The first plans were designed in a Neo-Gothic style by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, but soon did not satisfy the growing demands of Wilhelm, who - as the marriage of his elder brother King Frederick William IV produced no children - meanwhile had achieved the status of Prussian crown prince. The palace was largely extended according to plans by Friedrich Ludwig Persius and finished in 1849.
Babelsberg remained a residence of Wilhelm after his accession to the Prussian and German throne. It was here, after a private conversation on 23 September 1862 he appointed Otto von Bismarck Minister President of Prussia and decided not to abdicate.
Babelsberg today.
Because of the closeness to Berlin and Potsdam, Babelsberg's history has much in common with its neighbours, notably the common history of Prussia, the Partition of Germany during the Cold War and German reunification. The neighbourhood shares a direct border with the Wannsee district of Berlin, where some remains of the Berlin Wall survive.
Studio Babelsberg is widely known as a European media centre and the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. It is also one of the two seats of the public Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb) broadcaster and home of the German Broadcasting Archive.
Since 1990 Babelsberg Palace with the surrounding park laid out by Peter Joseph Lenné and Hermann von Pückler-Muskau is part of the UNESCO Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin World Heritage Site and open to the public as a museum. One campus of the University of Potsdam as well as the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) are situated within the park. Next to Neubabelsberg is the home of the Hasso Plattner Institute for software systems engineering.
The local SV Babelsberg 03 football club is based at the Karl-Liebknecht-Stadion, which is also the home ground of the 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam women's football team.
The German Industrial-Metal band Rammstein used Babelsberg castle to film their music video "Du Riechst So Gut 98".


Hen and Chicken Islands

The Hen and Chicken Islands (usually known collectively as the "Hen and Chickens") lie to the east of the North Auckland Peninsula off the coast of northern New Zealand. They lie east of Bream Head and south-east of Whangarei with a total area of .
History.
These islands were named by Captain James Cook, who first sighted them on 25 November 1769. It has been suggested that the name was inspired by an old name for the star cluster usually known as the Pleiades.
Originally owned by the Māori Ngā Puhi iwi, they were sold to the New Zealand Government in 1883. The islands were made a scenic reserve in 1908 owing to the rarity of their flora and fauna, and became a wildlife refuge in 1953. Hen Island had actually passed from Māori hands a few years earlier, being bought by Thomas Outhwaite in 1872. It was bequeathed to the nation by his daughter Isa Outhwaite in 1927, and it too was named as a scenic reserve.
In June 1940, the Canadian-Australasian Royal Mail Ship sank off the islands after hitting a mine. Most of the cargo, which included gold bullion, was later salvaged.
Environment.
The islands are noted for their bird life, with colonies of seabirds as well as forest birds which have become scarce or extinct on the mainland. The islands have been identified as an Important Bird Area, by BirdLife International because they are home to a breeding population of about 500 pairs of Pycroft's petrels.
The islands.
Hen Island, or , lies to the southwest from the rest of the archipelago. It is also considerably larger than the Chicken Islands, or , which comprise a chain of six small islands running north-west to south-east to the north of Hen Island. The chain consists of and Islands (together called North West Chicken), (West Chicken), Lady Alice Island or (Big Chicken), (Middle Chicken), and Coppermine Island (Eastern Chicken).
Taranga (Hen) Island.
 is the largest island by some considerable margin, totalling . Long and thin, it has a length of and an average width of less than . A remnant of a four-million-year-old volcano, the island is dominated by a rocky ridge reaching to about at its highest point, called The Pinnacles. Sail Rock, a stack, rises from the ocean to the south of Hen Island, and is a prominent navigational point for yachts.
By the late 1800s, Hen Island was the only place in New Zealand with a surviving population of North Island saddleback. The once common species of forest bird found in the North Island, was nearly wiped out by the human introduction of mammalian predators, such as rats and stoats. In the 1960s translocations of saddleback from Hen Island to other island sanctuaries around New Zealand began.
Wareware and Muriwhenua.
Two small rocky islands with a combined area of .
Mauitaha.
This , rugged, scrub-covered rock lies to the south of Muriwhenua. It rises to .
The New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Ngati Wai iwi have entered into partnership to set up a sanctuary for the Polynesian rat, or kiore, on the islands Mauitaha and Araara. A spokesman for Ngati Wai said the kiore heritage will be protected as the movement of the kiore through the Pacific paralleled the migration of the New Zealand Maori. A spokesman for the Department of Conservation said the Department's policy change from eradication would assist scientific research.
Lady Alice Island.
Named after Lady Alice Fergusson (wife of Governor General Sir Charles Fergusson), it is the largest of the five Chickens and is of particular significance because of its flora and fauna. The island covers and is surrounded by rocky reefs. It was occupied by Māori until the 1820s, and was used as a base for fishermen in the 1890s. Cattle were introduced at about this time, but were removed in the 1920s.
Whatupuke.
Formerly known as "Whakahau" this island is composed of a large eastern section and a peninsula to the southwest. The coast of the peninsula forms one of the chain's main land features, a wide bay (Starfish Bay). The island covers , and is steep, rising to .
Coppermine Island.
Coppermine island covers an area of . It is composed of two sections joined by a short isthmus. As the name suggests, there are copper deposits on the island, but attempts at mining them in 1849 and 1898 proved unprofitable.


Plover Cove (Extension) Country Park


List of national parks and protected areas of Iran

The National parks and protected areas, and wildlife refuges, of Iran
Listings.
There are around 200 protected areas in Iran to preserve the precious biodiversity of this country and there are about 16 National Parks among them that are home to some of our planet’s most incredible species. Golestan National Park, Kavir National Park, Turan National Park, and Tandoureh National Park are among the top protected areas. Each of these parks encompasses exceptional and unique varieties of flora and fauna in their wild frontiers. Notice that all National Parks of Iran are safe to visit but you need a permit to enter any of the National Parks and it’s best to take a tour leader or a ranger with yourself to get close to any of the wild animals you like to see.
The complete national parks, protected areas, and wildlife refuges in Iran include:


Carson Brewer

Carson Brewer (February 2, 1920 – January 15, 2003) was an American journalist and conservationist, best known for his work documenting the folk life of Knoxville and the surrounding Appalachian communities in East Tennessee. During his 40-year career as a columnist for the "Knoxville News-Sentinel", Brewer was a key voice for the promotion and protection of the region's natural wonders, especially the Great Smoky Mountains. His historical work included the first extensive history of the Little Tennessee River valley and one of the first comprehensive histories of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Brewer was born in Hancock County, Tennessee in 1920, the son of a local postmaster. He attended Maryville College for two years before joining the U.S. Army in 1941 at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, Brewer attended the University of Tennessee, but due to illness, he never obtained a degree. He joined the staff of the "News-Sentinel" in 1945, and in 1948 he married pioneering female journalist Alberta Trulock (1917—2007).
Brewer wrote several books on the Great Smoky Mountains, most notably "Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains" (1962), which was reprinted several times over three decades. In 1969, the Tennessee Valley Authority— which was planning to flood the Little Tennessee River valley by constructing Tellico Dam at the river's mouth— hired Brewer and his wife Alberta to compile a history of the valley and its inhabitants. Their work was published by the East Tennessee Historical Society in 1975 under the title, "Valley So Wild: A Folk History". In the early 1980s, Brewer wrote a series of articles documenting the history of the Tennessee Valley Authority and its effects on the inhabitants of East Tennessee. He retired from the "News-Sentinel" in 1985, but continued writing until his death in 2003.


Bisanadi National Reserve

Bisanadi National Reserve is a wildlife reserve in Isiolo County, Kenya. It is adjacent to Meru National Park. The park is home to the lion, African elephant, cheetah, white rhinoceros, and African buffalo and over 400 species of birds. Visitors to the reserve can boat/fish on the Tana and Rojewero rivers.


Nam Kading National Protected Area

Nam Kading National Protected Area is a national protected area in Bolikhamsai Province in central Laos. This rugged and largely inaccessible park, cut through by its namesake Nam Kading river, is home to a wide variety of plant and animal species, some endangered. Due to its ruggedness, the park lacks any significant human settlement.
Geography.
Nam Kading National Protected Area is located about east of Paksan near the village of Pakkading and covers parts of Paksan, Pakkading, Borikhane and Khamkeut districts. The park's current area is about . Elevations range from about to the park's highest point, Phou Pa Paek at .
The park's main river is the Nam Kading, flowing from south to north through the park. It is a significant tributary of the Mekong. The Nam Theun 2 Dam, Laos's largest hydroelectric project, impounds the Nam Kading south of the park in Khammouane Province. The courses of three other rivers, the Nam Muan, Nam Sat and Nam Tek, divide the park into four mountain ranges.
History.
Beginning in 1989, the area of the current park was surveyed by air and land. In 1993 Nam Kading National Biodiversity Conservation Area was decreed. Surveying began in 1995 to assess the impact on the park of two further proposed hydropower projects: Theun-Hinboun and Nam Theun 1.
Flora and fauna.
The park's main forest types are evergreen forest dry mixed deciduous forest. Native forests in Nam Kading cover 84% of the park area. A study for the proposed hydropower projects identified 256 plant species in the park. Included were two rare species: "Lagerstroemia balansae" and "Justicia gendarussa".
The native forests of Nam Kading host a large variety of animals and birds, including endangered species. At least 43 mammal species and 234 bird species have been catalogued. Animal species include both northern and southern white-cheeked gibbon, sun bear, gaur, tiger, elephant and giant muntjac.
Endangered bird species include great hornbill, rufous-necked hornbill, green peafowl and crested argus. Other bird species include wire-tailed swallow, wreathed hornbill, river lapwing, sooty babbler and rufous-throated fulvetta. One species is unique in Laos to Nam Kading: the pale-capped pigeon.
Environment.
Nam Kading faces a number of environmental threats. The most significant is from the effects of current and future hydropower projects. The current Theun-Hinboun project has reduced the flow of the Nam Kading river. The Nam Theun 1 project would flood an area of within the park, causing biodiversity loss and separating habitats. Hunting of wildlife by locals is currently a threat and is expected to increase if the Nam Theun 1 project finishes, as easier boat access to the park interior would become possible.


Vallo di Diano

The Vallo di Diano (also known as Valdiano) is an Italian valley of the south-eastern side of Campania, in the province of Salerno.
Geography.
Situated between the Alburni mountains and the borders of Campania with Basilicata, it is considered a geographical subregion of Cilento and is part of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, World Heritage Site of Italy from 1998. The greatest forestal park, mainly located in cilentan side, is Pruno.
The area is composed by 17 municipalities, and the greatest one is Sala Consilina, with c. 12,500 inhabitants. The others are Atena Lucana, Auletta, Buonabitacolo, Caggiano, Casalbuono, Monte San Giacomo, Montesano sulla Marcellana, Padula, Pertosa, Polla, San Pietro al Tanagro, Sant'Arsenio, San Rufo, Sanza, Sassano and Teggiano.
Transport.
The valley is served by the A2 motorway Salerno-Reggio Calabria, with the exits of Petina, Polla, Atena Lucana, Sala Consilina and Padula-Buonabitacolo. From this last exit it departs a speedway to Policastro Bussentino and Sapri with exits in Buonabitacolo and Sanza.
It was also served by the railway line Sicignano-Lagonegro, closed since 1987 for works and connected to Salerno–Potenza–Taranto railway line.


Nyungwe Forest

The Nyungwe Forest () is located in southwestern Rwanda, on the border with Burundi, where it is contiguous with the Kibira National Park to the south, and Lake Kivu and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. The Nyungwe rainforest is probably the best preserved montane rainforest in Central Africa. It is located in the watershed between the basin of the river Congo to the west and the basin of the river Nile to the east. From the east side of the Nyungwe forest comes also one of the branches of the Nile sources.
Nyungwe Forest National Park was established in 2004 and covers an area of approximately 970 km2 of rainforest, bamboo, grassland, swamps, and bogs. The nearest town is Cyangugu, 54 km to the west. Mount Bigugu is located within the park borders. In October 2020, the Rwanda Development Board signed an agreement with African Parks to assume management of Nyungwe National Park for an initial 20 years.
Animal life.
The Nyungwe forest has a wide diversity of animal species, making it a priority for conservation in Africa. The forest is situated in a region in which several large-scale biogeographical zones meet and the variety of terrestrial biomes provides a great span of microhabitats for many different species of plants and animals.
The park contains 13 primate species (25% of Africa's total), 275 bird species, 1068 plant species, 85 mammal species, 32 amphibian and 38 reptile species. Many of these animals are restricted-range species that are only found in the Albertine Rift montane forests ecoregion in Africa. In fact, the number of endemic species found here is greater than in any other forest in the Albertine Rift Mountains that has been surveyed. The forest, which reaches its maximum altitude of 3000 meters above sea level, is of particular interest for the presence of colonies of chimpanzees ("Pan troglodytes") and Angola colobus ("Colobus angolensis"), the latter now extinct in Angola for the intense hunt to which they were subjected.
History.
From 1958-1973, Nyungwe was reduced by over 150 km² due to fires, woodcutting, hunting of animals, and small-scale agriculture. Nearby Gishwati and Virunga forests were cut in half at this time. In 1969, elephants still numbered in the hundreds in Nyungwe. In 1974, the last buffalo was killed in Nyungwe by hunters. In 1984, Nyungwe was divided into areas that allow for sustainable use and harvesting of timber. The Government of Rwanda develops a plan for a buffer zone that can still be seen today. In 1984, biodiversity surveys conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) with RDB documented colobus in groups of up to 400 members—an unheard of phenomenon. In 1987, development of the trail system began at Uwinka.In 1994, war and genocide devastated the country and destroyed many of the research and tourist facilities in Uwinka. Most senior staff were forced to flee, but many junior staff members at Nyungwe stayed on to protect the park. The park began to rebuild in 1995, but security and stability were still uncertain. In 1999, the last elephant in Nyungwe was killed in the swamp by poachers.
In 2005, the Rwandan Government makes Nyungwe an official National Park, giving it protected status, the highest level of protection in the country.


Keoladeo National Park

Keoladeo National Park or Keoladeo Ghana National Park formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India is a famous avifauna sanctuary that hosts thousands of birds, especially during the winter season. Over 350 species of birds are known to be resident. It is also a major tourist centre with scores of ornithologists arriving here in the hibernal season. It was declared a protected sanctuary in 1971. It is also a World Heritage Site.
Keoladeo Ghana National Park is a man-made and man-managed wetland and one of the national parks of India. The reserve protects Bharatpur from frequent floods, provides grazing grounds for village cattle, and earlier was primarily used as a waterfowl hunting ground. The reserve is locally known as Ghana, and is a mosaic of dry grasslands, woodlands, woodland swamps and wetlands. These diverse habitats are home to 366 bird species, 379 floral species, 50 species of fish, 13 species of snakes, 5 species of lizards, 7 amphibian species, 7 turtle species and a variety of other invertebrates. Every year thousands of migratory waterfowl visit the park for wintering and breeding. The sanctuary is one of the richest bird areas in the world and is known for nesting of resident birds and visiting migratory birds including water birds. The rare Siberian cranes used to winter in this park but this central population is now extinct. According to founder of the World Wildlife Fund Peter Scott, Keoladeo National Park is one of the world’s best bird areas.
History.
The sanctuary was created 250 years ago and is named after a Keoladeo (Shiva) temple within its boundaries. Initially, it was a natural depression; and was flooded after the "Ajan Bund" was constructed by Maharaja Suraj Mal, then the ruler of the princely state of Bharatpur, between 1726–1763. The bund was created at the confluence of two rivers, the Gambhir and Banganga. The park was a hunting ground for the Maharajas of Bharatpur, a tradition dating back to 1850, and duck shoots were organised yearly in honour of the British viceroys. In one shoot alone in 1938, over 4,273 birds such as mallards and teals were killed by Lord Linlithgow, then Viceroy of India.
The park was established as a national park on 10 March 1982. Previously the private duck shooting preserve of the Maharaja of Bharatpur since the 1850s, the area was designated as a bird sanctuary on 13 March 1976 and a Ramsar site under the Wetland Convention in October 1981.
The last big shoot was held in 1964 but the Maharajah retained shooting rights until 1972. In 1985, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site under the World Heritage Convention. It is a reserve forest under the Rajasthan Forest Act, 1953 and therefore, is the property of the State of Rajasthan of the Indian Union. In 1982, grazing was banned in the park, leading to violent clashes between local farmers and the government.
World Heritage Site.
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. These criteria are explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention which, besides the text of the Convention, is the main working tool on World Heritage. The criteria are regularly revised by the Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself. The UNESCO convention for listing goes on to explain the criteria the selection of Keoladeo Ghana National Park as a World Heritage Site under the Natural Criteria iv of Operational Guidelines 2002 and the description which follows is that the park is a “Habitat of rare and endangered species. The park is a wetland of international importance for migratory waterfowl. It is the wintering ground for the rare Siberian crane and habitat for large numbers of resident nesting birds.” According to the revised Operational Guidelines of 2005, the park falls under Criteria (x) which states that to be conferred the status of World Heritage, the site should “contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-site conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.”
Geography.
Keoladeo National Park is south-east of Bharatpur and west of Agra. It is spread over approx . One third of the Keoladeo National Park is wetland with mounds, dykes and open water with or without submerged or emergent plants. The uplands have grasslands with tall grass species together with scattered trees and shrubs present in varying density.
A similar habitat with short grasses, such as" Cynodon dactylon" and "Dichanthium annulatum" also exists. Woodlands with thickets of huge Kadam trees ("Neolamarckia cadamba") are distributed in scattered pockets. The park’s flora consists of 379 species of flowering plants of which 96 are wetland species. The wetland is a part of the Indo-Gangetic Great Plains.
Water remains only in some depressions. This alternate wetting and drying helps to maintain the ecology of the freshwater swamp, ideal for water-fowl and resident water birds. Arrangement to pump water from deep tube wells to fill small depressions to save seeds, spores and other aquatic life also exist. They are also helpful in extreme years of drought.
Climate.
During 1988, mean maximum temperature ranged from 20.9° Celsius (C) in January to 47.8 °C in May, while the mean temperature varied from 6.8 °C in December to 26.5 °C in June. The diurnal temperature variation ranged from 5 °C in January to 50 °C in May. Mean relatively humidity varied from 62% in March to 83.3% in December. The mean annual precipitation is 662 millimeters (mm), with rain falling on an average of 36 days per year. During 1988 only 395mm of rain fell during 32 wet days.
Wildlife.
Flora.
In an area characterized by sparse vegetation, the park is the only spot which has dense vegetation and trees. The principal vegetation types are tropical dry deciduous forests intermixed with dry grasslands. Where the forest has degraded, the greater part of the area is covered with shrubs and medium-sized trees. The park is a freshwater swamp and is flooded during the monsoon. The rest of the area remains dry. Forests, mostly in the north-east of the park, are dominated by kalam or kadam ("Mitragyna parvifolia"), jamun ("Syzygium cumini") and babul ("Acacia nilotica"). The open woodland is mostly babul with a small amount of kandi ("Prosopis cineraria") and ber ("Zizyphus").
Scrublands are dominated by ber and kair. It is unlikely that the site would support such numbers of waterfowl as it does without the addition of water from Ajan Bund, a man-made impoundment. Soils are predominantly alluvial – some clay has formed as a result of the periodic inundations. The mean annual precipitation is 662mm, with rain falling on an average of 36 days per year.
The open woodland is mostly babul with a small amount of kandi and ber. Scrublands are dominated by ber and kair ("Capparis decidua").
Piloo ("Salvadora oleoides" and "Salvadora persica") also present in the park and happens to be virtually the only woody plants found in areas of saline soil. The aquatic vegetation is rich and provides a valuable food source for waterfowl.
During 2007 and 2008 attempts were made to eradicate the mesquite "Prosopis juliflora" and specimens of the asteraceous genus "Cineraria" to prevent the park being overrun with these invasive species and to assist natural vegetation in recovering.
Fauna.
Macro invertebrates such as worms, insects, and mollusks, though more abundant in variety and numbers than any other group of organisms, are present mostly in aquatic habitats. They are food for many fish and birds, as well as some animal species, and hence, constitute a major link in the food chain and functioning of the ecosystem. Land insects are in abundance and have a positive effect on the breeding of land birds.
Birds.
The park's location in the Gangetic Plain makes it an unrivalled breeding site for:
and an important wintering ground for large numbers of migrant
The most common waterfowl are:
Keoladeo National Park is known as a “bird paradise”, since more than 370 bird species have been recorded in the park. Ornithologically, the park assumes significance in two respects: One because of its strategic location as a staging ground for migratory waterfowl arriving in the Indian subcontinent before dispersing to various regions. Further waterfowl converge here before departing to breeding grounds in the western Palearctic region. In addition, the wetland is a wintering area for massive congregations of waterfowl. It is also the only regular wintering area in India for the:
Birds present include:
Mammals.
Mammalian fauna of Keoladeo National Park is equally rich with 27 identified species.
are few. Other:
are often spotted sneaking out of the park into crop fields. Two:
are occasionally sighted.
are also present, but rarely sighted. Large predators are absent, but:
can be seen attacking birds such as:
Many species of:
are also found in the park.
Other species.
Fish fauna of the park comprises 43 species, of which 37 enter the park along with the water from Ajan Bund, and six species are breeding residents. During a good rainy season the park receives around 65 million fish fry and fingerlings. The fish population and diversity are of high ecological importance as they form the food source of many birds.
The herpetofauna of Keoladeo National Park is diverse. Out of the ten species of turtles that are seen in Rajasthan, seven are present in this park. Besides this, there are five lizard species, thirteen snake species and seven species of amphibians. The bullfrog and skipper frog are commonly found in the wetlands. It is often easy to see a python out of its burrow and basking in the sun on a sunny winter day. The common monitor lizard, Indian porcupine and bi-colored leaf-nose bat have been seen in the same burrow as that of the python. The venomous snakes found in the park are krait, cobra and Russell’s viper.
Management.
The management objective is to allow the area to flood and dry out annually, rather than be maintained as a system of permanent marshes. Water for the wetlands is supplied from the dam outside the park boundaries. Usually, some 14.17 million cubic meters of water is the estimated annual requirement of the park. The water level inside the park is regulated by means of dykes and artificial embankments. The alternative arrangement of water in case of emergencies such as danger of marshes and water bodies drying out completely is ensured through four boreholes so that survival of the aquatic flora and fauna is not endangered before the arrival of monsoon. The boundaries of the park are clearly delineated by a thirty-two Kilometer long boundary encircling the park restricting the encroachment of humans and domestic cattle inside the perimeters of the park. The road from Bharatpur town which used to intersect the park was also closed and relocated outside the boundary to reduce the disturbance by visitors from the town which helped in bringing down the levels of pollution inside the park considerably. As opposed to most of the national parks in India and elsewhere, Bharatpur Bird sanctuary has no buffer zone. Due to the heavy density of population and more than 15 villages settled on the periphery of park, it was impossible for authorities to create a buffer zone around the bird sanctuary. Grazing and collection of firewood and grass was phased out from the park as far back as 1983.
Constraints.
The Siberian crane, which formerly lived throughout the entire Indo-Gangetic plains of India, is reported to be no longer found in the area. Its absence has been attributed to hunting by nomadic tribes along the species' 5,000 mile migration route from Siberia to Bharatpur.
Some 2,500 cattle and domestic water buffalo were allowed in the area up until November 1982 when grazing was banned. Predictably, the ban led to a buildup of local resentment, resulting in an attempted forced entry into the park. Police opened fire and eight people were killed: tensions still remain high. The absence of grazing is causing management problems as vegetation, principally Paspalum distichum, a perennial amphibious grass, blocks up the channels. The Rajasthan government has rejected a proposal from the Bombay Natural History Society to allow limited grazing, since this would conflict with the law. Furthermore, recycled nutrients from the large quantity of dung deposited by livestock probably supported considerable numbers of insects.
The presence of some 700 feral cattle within the park is cause for concern as they compete with wildlife for valuable forage. Larvae of the Lepidopteran "Parapoynx diminutalis" has also been a serious pest, and considerably inhibited the growth of "Nymphoides cristatum" during June–July 1986. High levels of pollutants in Ajan Bund are believed to be responsible for the increasing number of piscivorous birds seen in a dazed state and unable to fly. Fewer birds were recorded in 1984 than in previous years. Four sarus cranes and 40 ring-necked doves were found dead outside the park during 1988 and early 1989, possibly due to pesticide poisoning, and a study of the impact of pesticide use in surrounding areas on the park has been initiated in addition to studies on heavy metal contamination. Disturbance from visitors can be a cause for concern, especially during December and January when visitors come to see the cranes.
A non-native water hyacinth Icornia species was introduced in 1961, and has now proliferated to the extent that it is blocking the artificial waterways and filling the impoundments. This is significantly altering the habitat for many bird species, and is a serious management problem. Attempts to control the species have been ineffectual to date.
Tourism and visitor facilities.
By virtue of being one of the best bird watching sites of Asia, more than 100,000 visitors come to the park every year. The range of visitors varies from very serious birdwatchers to school children. Of the visitors, 45,000 are foreign tourists. In addition, the location of the park is such that tourists visiting Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Jaipur invariably stop over at Bharatpur. The park opens from sunrise to sunset around the year. Food and accommodation facilities are available within the precincts of the park. The only accommodation inside the Keoladeo National Park is available in the property of government Bharatpur Ashoka Forest Lodge and lesser expensive Shanti Kutir, which is maintained and run by the ITDC. Bharatpur Forest Lodge is a quaint hotel in the vicinity of natural treasure trove of the park and has a total of 16 rooms to offer to visitors. Its circuit house and dak bungalow also offer good accommodation options. Visitors coming to Bharatpur can also stay in palaces, havelis and other heritage properties converted into hotels. It is always advisable to have one’s accommodation pre-booked, especially so during winters. An array of 3 star hotels and resorts are also located in the vicinity of the park where visitors can stay cozily. Besides the normal tourism activities and self-arranged bird watching tours of the Keoladeo National Park, visitors can also opt for a tour of this birding destination by selecting from an array of luxury tourist train services. Luxury trains like Palace on Wheels include Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary in its tour itinerary.
Scientific research and facilities.
The Bombay Natural History Society has done considerable work in the area, including the ringing of birds for the last 40 years. The society has recently intensified its operations and has established a hydro-biological station to monitor the ecology of the wetland. Particular attention will be given to any in dramatic change in the vegetation following the ban on grazing. Limnological studies have been carried out by the Zoology Department of the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. The park authorities are monitoring the bird populations. A documentary film 'Indian birds of the monsoon' was produced by S. and B. Breeden in 1979–1980. The park has considerable potential for education, more so than other wetland sites in India, in view of it being relatively near to the cities of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur.
Between December 1992 and January 1995, a collaborative project between the Governments of India and Russia, International Crane Foundation and Wild Bird Society of Japan was set up to save the Siberian crane. The project focused on releasing captivity bred cranes into the wild, tracking migratory routes of common cranes, and building up the resident crane population in the park. Although the project did not yield the desired results, the successful survival of introduced cranes in the park has given sufficient hope to develop a viable resident population in the future.
Crisis of 2007.
A severe drought caused severe harm to the park and its flora and fauna in 2007.
A proposal for water supply to Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur was forwarded by the Government of Rajasthan seeking assistance from Planning Commission as advised and approved by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) vide their letter dated 10.04.2008. As per the MoEF, the proposal is beyond the purview of the existing centrally sponsored scheme of the MoEF, seems to be viable and has the potential to put an end to the eternal water scarcity in Bharatpur National Park.
The Keoladeo National Park is a Ramsar Wetland Site and a World Heritage site. Due to acute water scarcity, the ecosystem of the Park has been affected badly and this has resulted in reduction in the arrival of migratory birds in the National Park. Water supply is essential for the National Park, which is a wetland and a Ramsar site facing acute shortage of water for the last few years. Currently, apart from rainfall the Park receives water from “Ajan Bund”, a temporary reservoir via the Dakan canal. Through a small canal dug last year water from Khokhar Weir (Bees Mora) is also available. The total requirement of water for the Park is estimated at about 14.17 million cubic meters (500 MCft). The supply from Ajan Bund is irregular and subject to the bund being full to the extent of reservoir level at 8.5 meters. During the last several years either water is not supplied or supplied insufficiently.
The project had been prepared to keep in view the need for 400 MCFT of water during late July to August, for a period of 30 days to the Park which is to be had by diverting and lifting flood waters of Yamuna. The project thus covered diversion of water during monsoon through underground pipes with lifting arrangements over a length of 16 km from the off-take point of Goverdhan drain near Santruk village. The estimated cost of the project as proposed by the State Government was to the tune of Rs. 650 million. The project proposed was to channelize water from Govardhan drain to meet the water deficit of KNP during the months of July to September at the time of requirement. The major components of the project were construction of a head regulator with control gate at the drain located in the state, raw water reservoir with capacity of 13,000 m, 3 pump houses, DG sets for pumping station and laying and testing of /PCC/MS pipelines.


Planet Ark

Planet Ark Environmental Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit environmental organisation, founded in 1992, which works with the public and business alike to help find the simple ways in which they can reduce their impact on the planet, at home, at work and in the community. It is best known for its high-profile recycling campaigns including 'Cartridges 4 Planet Ark', Australia's 'National Recycling Week' and the country's biggest annual community tree-planting event, National Tree Day. The organisation is operated from its office in Sydney.
History.
Ark Australia was founded in 1992 by Paul Klymenko, Peter Shenstone and former Ark UK member Jon Dee. At the time kerbside recycling was in its infancy and environmental information was very limited. The organisation was commissioned to create 300 "Save the Planet" videos involving high profile celebrities and soon became known as Planet Ark. Several major events are organised by Planet Ark including National Tree Day, founded in 1996 with Olivia Newton John; National Recycling Week and the Schools Recycle Right Challenge. The organisation began many high profile campaigns that have since either moved to other providers or become staples of the public recycling sphere, including 'Cards 4 Planet Ark', 'Phones for Planet Ark', Steel Can and Aluminium Can (Al Cans) recycling to name a few. To demonstrate that cleaning products could be as effective without heavy chemical composition, Planet Ark released the Aware Laundry powder range in 1994. This was soon followed by 100% recycled toilet tissue.
Campaigns.
Planet Ark's campaigns seek to drive positive action that directly changes people's behaviour. The organisation is non-political and non-confrontational, aiming to unite people and business in action. Planet Ark's main objectives are to promote sustainable resource use, encourage low carbon lifestyles and connect people with nature. Planet Ark works with businesses and endorses a number of commercial products it considers to be environmentally friendly in production and manufacture, including recycled toilet paper, cleaning products and car tyres.
Planet Ark's campaigns include:
Celebrity supporters.
Celebrities who have fronted Planet Ark campaigns include Pierce Brosnan, Kamahl, Olivia Newton-John, Jamie Durie, Steve Irwin, Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Shelley Craft, Richard Branson and TV personality Tim Webster. Current ambassadors include surfer Layne Beachley, TV personality James Treble, ABC's "Gardening Australia" host Costa Georgiadis, "Grand Designs Australia" host Peter Maddison, author Anita Van Dyke, Dr Amanda Lloyd, Magdalena Roze, Ranger Stacey, Candice Dixon and children's sensation dirtgirlworld.
Popular with the Australian media for its focus on positive actions, Planet Ark's official spokesperson is former actress and television presenter turned environmentalist, Rebecca Gilling.
Criticism.
Planet Ark's carbon capture and sustainable building materials campaign 'Make it Wood' was criticised by Jon Dee and Pat Cash who appeared on television to complain about the links to the timber industry and involvement in drafting the Australian Forestry Standard. which Nick Xenophon has said "raises some serious questions of a potential conflict of interest" and caused Christine Milne to criticise the organisation. Planet Ark responded to the enquiries in a letter explaining its position in detail. The Australian Forestry Standard is an attempt to create an Australian specific standard, as opposed to the international Forest Stewardship Council and Planet Ark recommends choosing FSC wood products.


Split, Croatia

Split (, as in the English word "split"; ; see other names) is Croatia's second-largest city and the largest city in the Dalmatia region. 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.
The city was founded as the Greek colony of Aspálathos (Aσπάλαθος) in the 3rd or 2nd century BC on the coast of the Illyrian Dalmatae, and later on was home to Diocletian's Palace, built for the Roman emperor in AD 305. It became a prominent settlement around 650 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 Roman refugees. Split became a Byzantine city. Later it drifted 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 of the Dalmatian city-states, caught in the middle of a struggle between Venice and Croatia (in union with Hungary) for control over the Dalmatian cities.
Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy and in 1806 it was included in the French Empire, becoming part of the Illyrian Provinces in 1809. After being occupied in 1813, it was eventually granted to the Austrian Empire following the Congress of Vienna, where the city remained a part of the Austrian Kingdom of Dalmatia until the fall of Austria-Hungary in 1918 and the formation of Yugoslavia. In World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia. The city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Socialist Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991, Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence.
Name.
By a popular theory, the city draws its name from the spiny broom ("Calicotome spinosa", ασπάλαθος in Greek), after which the Greek colony of Aspálathos (Aσπάλαθος) or Spálathos (Σπάλαθος) was named. The theory is dubious as it is Spanish broom ("Spartium junceum, brnistra" or "žuka" in Croatian) that is a very frequent plant in the area. Nevertheless, given that they are similar flowers, it is understandable how the confusion arose.
As the city became a Roman possession, the Latin name became "Spalatum" or "Aspalatum", which in the Middle Ages evolved into "Aspalathum", "Spalathum", "Spalatrum", and "Spalatro" in the Dalmatian language of the city's Romance population. The Croatian term became "Split" or "Spljet", while the Italian-language version, "Spalato", became universal in international usage by the Early Modern Period. In the late 19th century, the Croatian name increasingly came to prominence, and officially replaced "Spalato" in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I.
For a significant period, the origin of the name was erroneously thought to be related to the Latin word for "palace" ("palatium"), a reference to Diocletian's Palace which still forms the core of the city. Various theories were developed, such as the notion that the name derives from "S. Palatium", an abbreviation of "Salonae Palatium". The erroneous "palace" etymologies were notably due to Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and were later mentioned by Thomas the Archdeacon. The city, however, is several centuries older than the palace.
History.
Antiquity.
Although the beginnings of Split are traditionally associated with the construction of Diocletian's Palace in 305, the city was founded several centuries earlier as the Greek colony of Aspálathos, or Spálathos. It was a colony of the polis of Issa, the modern-day town of Vis, itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse. The exact year the city was founded is not known, but it is estimated to have been in the 3rd or 2nd century BC.
The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, mostly the Delmatae.
After the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219 BC, the city of Salona, only a short distance from Spálathos, became the capital of the Roman Province of Dalmatia and one of the largest cities of the late empire with 60.000 people. The history of Spálathos becomes obscure for a while at this point, being overshadowed by that of nearby Salona, to which it would later become successor. The Roman Emperor Diocletian (ruled AD 284 to 305) in 293 began the construction of an opulent and heavily fortified palace fronting the sea, near his home town of Salona, selecting the site of Spálathos (or "Spalatum" in Latin).
The Palace was built as a massive structure, much like a Roman military fortress. The palace and the city of Spalatum which formed its surroundings were at times inhabited by a population as large as 8,000 to 10,000 people.
Between 475 and 480 the Palace hosted Flavius Julius Nepos, the last recognised Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Salona was lost to the Ostrogothic Kingdom in 493, along with most of Dalmatia, but the Emperor Justinian I regained Dalmatia in 535–536.
The Pannonian Avars sacked and destroyed Salona in 639; the surviving Romans fled to the nearby islands. The Dalmatian region and its shores were at this time settled by tribes of Croats, a South Slavic people subservient to the Avar khagans.
The Salonitans regained the land under Severus the Great in 650 and settled the 300-year-old Palace of Diocletian, which could not be effectively besieged by the Slavic tribes of the mainland. The Emperor Constans II granted them an Imperial mandate to establish themselves in the Palace as the City of Spalatum, which imposed upon the Croatian Slavs - at the time alied of Byzantium against the Avars - a cessation of hostilities. The Temple of Jupiter was rededicated to the Virgin Mary and the remains of the popular Saint Domnius were recovered from the ruins of Salona, later establishing the Cathedral of Saint Domnius as new seat of the Archbishop of Salona. In 1100, the bell tower which became the main symbol of the city was constructed and dedicated to Saint Domnius, by then regarded as the patron saint of the city.
Byzantine and Hungarian period.
Until the Sack of Constantinople, Split remained a "de jure" possession of the Byzantine Empire as a Byzantine duchy, administered by the Exarchate of Ravenna and after 751 by Jadera (Zadar).
Its hinterland, however, was now home to the Duchy of the Croats. In this period, an independent Dalmatian language developed from Latin, with a distinct local dialect: to its inhabitants, the city became known as Spalatrum or Spalatro, one of the main Dalmatian city-states.
In 925 Tomislav's Kingdom of Croatia emerged in the hinterland of the city, centered in Nin as an ally of Byzantium against Simeon I of Bulgaria - though without receiving any power from the Emperor over the Dalmatian cities. The rise of the rival Bishopric of Nin, headed by Bishop Gregory, which attempted to institute the "Slavonic" or "Slavic language" as the language of religious service, led to the 925 Synod of Split, at which it was decreed that "no one should presume to celebrate the divine mysteries in the Slavonic language, but only in Latin and Greek, and that no one of that tongue should be advanced to the holy orders".
Throughout the 9th and 10th centuries, Split was raided by the Narentines (a South Slavic confederation recognizing the King of Croatia as their sovereign). Therefore, the city offered its allegiance to Venice and in 998 the Venetian Doge Pietro II Orseolo, led a large naval expedition which defeated the Narentines the same year. After obtaining permission from Emperor Basil II in Constantinople, Orseolo proclaimed himself Duke of Dalmatia.
In 1019 the Byzantine Empire restored direct control over Dalmatia. The title "Duke of Dalmatia" seems to have been dropped at this point by the Venetian doges. In 1069 Peter Krešimir IV, King of Croatia, gained control over Dalmatian islands and cities, including Split, and stretched his rule south to Neretva. The coastal cities retained autonomous administration and were still nominally under Byzantine Empire, but were now subjects of the Croatian king.
After the death of Croatian King Stephen II in 1091, a period of succession crisis followed in Croatia, with King Ladislaus I of Hungary interfering in it. Byzantine Emperor Alexius took advantage of this and joined the old Theme of Dalmatia to the Empire. In 1096 Emperor Alexius, at the time engaged in the First Crusade, granted the administration of Dalmatia to the Doge of Venice.
In 1105 Coloman, King of Hungary, having conquered the Kingdom of Croatia, reneged on its alliance with Venice and moved on the coastal towns, besieging and taking Zadar. Split and Trogir decided then to surrender upon guarantee of their ancient privileges.
The rights granted to the city (and reaffirmed by new charters) were substantial. Split was to pay no tribute, it was to choose its own count and archbishop whom the king would confirm, it preserved its old Roman laws, and appointed its own judge. Dues from trade (which were substantial in the period), were divided between the count, the archbishop, and the king, and no foreigner was to live within the walls of the city against the will of the citizens. These rights were generally upheld by Hungarian kings, but there were inevitable incidents of violation.
After Coloman's death in 1116, the Doge Ordelafo Faliero returned from Outremer and retook all the Dalmatian cities, and also, for the first time, the Croatian cities of coast such as Biograd and Šibenik. In 1117, however, he was defeated and killed in renewed battle with the Hungarians under Stephen II of Hungary, and Split again acknowledged Hungarian rule. But the new Doge, Domenico Michiel, quickly defeated the Hungarians again and restored Venetian authority by 1118. In 1124, while the Doge was engaged against the Byzantine Empire (now hostile to Venice), Stephen II recovered Split and Trogir without resistance. Upon Michele's return in 1127, however, the Doge yet again expelled the Hungarians from the two cities and utterly destroyed Biograd, the favored seat of the Croatian Kings that the Hungarians were attempting to establish as a rival to the Venetian Zadar.
The cities remained in Venetian hands without contest during the reign of Béla II. But in 1141, his successor, King Géza II, having conquered Bosnian lands, marched to Split and Trogir, both voluntarily accepting him as overlord. This turned out to be a definitive conquest, as Venetian rule was not to return to Split for another 186 years.
In that period, however, Split was to see one brief (and final) restoration of Imperial power in Dalmatia. The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus began his campaigns against the Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary in 1151, and by 1164, had secured the submission of the Dalmatian cities back under Imperial rule. Having won a decisive victory against Kingdom of Croatia and Hungary in 1167 at the Battle of Sirmium, consolidating his gains, the Emperor suddenly broke with Venice as well, and sent a fleet of 150 ships to the Adriatic. Split was to remain in Byzantine hands until Manuel's death in 1180, when Béla III of Hungary moved to restore Hungarian power in Dalmatia. The city remained loyal to the Empire, resisting the re-establishment of Hungarian rule, and consequently, upon its inevitable submission, was punished with the King's refusal to renew its ancient privileges.
During the 20-year Hungarian civil war between King Sigismund and the Capetian House of Anjou of the Kingdom of Naples, the losing contender, Ladislaus of Naples, sold his disputed rights on Dalmatia to the Venetian Republic for 100,000 ducats. Acting on the pretext, the Republic took over in the city by the year 1420.
Venetian period.
By this time the population was largely Croatian, while Romance Dalmatian names were not as common, according to the Medieval city archives. The common language was Croatian, but Italian (a mixture of Tuscan and Venetian dialects) was also spoken due to Italian notaries, school teachers and merchants. The city's autonomy was greatly reduced: the highest authority was a prince and captain ("conte e capitanio"), assigned by Venice.
Split eventually developed into a significant port-city, with important trade routes to the Ottoman-held interior through the nearby Klis pass. Culture flourished as well, Split being the hometown of Marko Marulić, a classic Croatian author. Marulić's most acclaimed work, "Judita" (1501), was an epic poem about Judith and Holfernes, widely held to be the first modern work of Croatian literature. It was written in Split and printed in Venice in 1521. The advances and achievements were reserved mostly for the aristocracy: the illiteracy rate was extremely high, mostly because Venetian rule showed little interest in educational and medical facilities.
In 1797 Split was ceded to the Habsburg Monarchy by the Treaty of Campo Formio, ending 377 years of Venetian rule in the city.
Napoleonic wars.
Split became part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1805, after the defeat of the Third Coalition at the Battle of Austerlitz and the consequent Treaty of Pressburg. It was included directly in the French Empire in 1806. The same year, Vincenzo Dandolo was named "provveditore generale" and general Auguste de Marmont was named military commander of Dalmatia.
In 1809, after a brief war with France, Austria ceded Carinthia, Carniola, Croatia west of the Sava River, Gorizia and Trieste to France. These territories, along with Dalmatia, formed the Illyrian Provinces. During this period, large investments were undertaken in the city, new streets were built and parts of the ancient fortifications were removed.
Austria, with help from a British force led by Captain William Hoste, occupied Split in November 1813. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the city was officially ceded to Austria.
Under Habsburg rule.
The Split region became part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, a separate administrative unit. After the revolutions of 1848 as a result of the romantic nationalism, two factions appeared. One was the pro-Croatian "Unionist faction" (later called the "Puntari", "Pointers"), led by the People's Party and, to a lesser extent, the Party of Rights, both of which advocated the union of Dalmatia with the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia which was under Hungarian administration. This faction was strongest in Split, and used it as its headquarters. The other faction was the pro-Italian Autonomist faction (also known as the "Irredentist" faction), whose political goals varied from autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a political union with the Kingdom of Italy.
The political alliances in Split shifted over time. At first, the Unionists and Autonomists were allied against the centralism of Vienna. After a while, when the national question came to prominence, they separated. Under Austria, however, Split can generally be said to have stagnated. The great upheavals in Europe in 1848 gained no ground in Split, and the city did not rebel.
Antonio Bajamonti became Mayor of Split in 1860 and – except for a brief interruption during the period 1864–65 – held the post for over two decades until 1880. Bajamonti was also a member of the Dalmatian Sabor (1861–91) and the Austrian Chamber of Deputies (1867–70 and 1873–79). In 1882 Bajamonti's party lost the elections and Dujam Rendić-Miočević, a prominent city lawyer, was elected to the post.
As part of Yugoslavia.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After the end of World War I and the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, the province of Dalmatia, along with Split, became a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Split was the site of a series of incidents between 1918 and 1920.
Since Rijeka, Trieste and Zadar, the three other large cities on the eastern Adriatic coast, were annexed by Italy, Split became the most important port in the Kingdom. The Lika railway, connecting Split to the rest of the country, was completed in 1925.
The country changed its name to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929, and the Port of Split became the seat of new administrative unit, Littoral Banovina. After the Cvetković-Maček agreement, Split became the part of new administrative unit (merging of Sava and Littoral Banovina plus some Croat populated areas), Banovina of Croatia in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
World War II.
In April 1941, following the invasion of Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany, Split was occupied by Italy. Although Split formally became part of the Independent State of Croatia, the Ustaše were not able to establish and strengthen their rule in Split, as Italians assumed all power in Dalmatia. One month later on 18 May 1941, when the Treaties of Rome were signed, Italy formally annexed Split and large parts of Dalmatia down to Kotor. The Dalmatian Governatorate hosted 390,000 inhabitants, of which 280,000 Croats, 90,000 Serbs and 5,000 Italians.
Italian rule met heavy opposition from the Croat population as Split became a centre of anti-fascist sentiment in Yugoslavia. The first armed resistance group was organized on 7 May 1941; the 63 member strong 1st Strike Detachment ("Prvi udarni odred") served as the basis for future formations, including the 1st Split Partisan Detachment. Between September and October 1941 alone, ten officials of the Italian fascist occupation were assassinated by the citizens.
On 12 June 1942, a fascist mob attacked the city's synagogue, and destroyed its library and archive. Worshipers were beaten as they left the synagogue and Jewish-owned shops were targeted the following day.
The local football clubs refused to compete in the Italian championship; HNK Hajduk and RNK Split suspended their activities and both joined the Partisans along with their entire staff after the Italian capitulation provided the opportunity. Soon after Hajduk became the official football club of the Partisan movement.
In September 1943, following the capitulation of Italy, the city was temporarily controlled by Tito's brigades with thousands of people volunteering to join the Partisans of Marshal Josip Broz Tito (a third of the total population, according to some sources). 8,000 Italian soldiers from the 15th Infantry Division Bergamo prepared to fight alongside the Yugoslav Partisans against the Waffen SS Prinz Eugen. The Italian General Becuzzi handed over to the Partisans 11 soldiers which they considered as "war criminals; the Partisans also executed up to 41 members of the Italian Police forces, later found in mass graves.
A few weeks later, however, the Partisans were forced into retreat as the Wehrmacht placed the city under the authority of the Independent State of Croatia. The Germans decimated the Italian soldiers as traitors, including three Generals (Policardi, Pelligra e Cigala Fulgosi) and 48 officials (Trelj massacre). In this period the last remaining symbols of Italian heritage in Split, including several Venetian Lions of St.Mark, were erased from the town.
In a tragic turn of events, besides being bombed by axis forces, the city was also bombed by the Allies, causing hundreds of deaths. Partisans finally captured the city on 26 October 1944 and instituted it as the provisional capital of Croatia. On 12 February 1945 the Kriegsmarine conducted a daring raid on the Split harbour, damaging the British cruiser "Delhi".
After the war the remaining members of the Italian community in Split left Yugoslavia towards Italy (Istrian-Dalmatian exodus).
Federal Yugoslavia.
After World War II, Split became a part of the Socialist Republic of Croatia, itself a constituent sovereign republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the period the city experienced its largest economic and demographic boom. Dozens of new factories and companies were founded with the city population tripling during the period. The city became the economic centre of an area exceeding the borders of Croatia and was flooded by waves of rural migrants from the undeveloped hinterland who found employment in the newly established industry, as part of large-scale industrialization and investment by the Yugoslav Federal Government.
The shipbuilding industry was particularly successful and Yugoslavia, with its Croatian shipyards, became one of the world's top nations in the field. Many recreational facilities were also constructed with federal funding, especially for the 1979 Mediterranean Games, such as the Poljud Stadium. The city also became the largest passenger and military port in Yugoslavia, housing the headquarters of the Yugoslav Navy ("Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica," JRM) and the Army's Coastal Military District (equivalent of a field army). In the period between 1945 and 1990, the city was transformed and expanded, taking up the vast majority of the Split peninsula. In the same period it achieved an as yet unsurpassed GDP and employment level, still above the present day's, growing into a significant Yugoslav city.
Since independence.
When Croatia declared its independence again in 1991, Split had a large garrison of Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) troops (drafted from all over Yugoslavia), as well as the headquarters and facilities of the Yugoslav Navy (JRM). This led to a tense months-long stand-off between the JNA and Croatian National Guard and police forces, occasionally flaring up in various incidents. The most tragic such incident occurred on 15 November 1991, when the JRM light frigate "Split" fired a small number of shells at the city and its surroundings. The damage was insignificant but there were a few casualties. Three general locations were bombarded: the old city center, the city airport and an uninhabited part of the hills above Kaštela, between the airport and Split. JRM Sailors who had refused to attack Croat civilians, most of them Croats themselves, were left in the vessel's brig. The JNA and JRM evacuated all of its facilities in Split during January 1992. The 1990s economic recession soon followed.
In the years following 2000, Split finally gained momentum and started to develop again, with a focus on tourism. From being just a transition centre, Split is now a major Croatian tourist destination. Many new hotels are being built, as well as new apartment and office buildings. Many large development projects are revived, and new infrastructure is being built. An example of the latest large city projects is the Spaladium Arena, built in 2009.
Geography.
Split is situated on a peninsula between the eastern part of the Gulf of Kaštela and the Split Channel. The Marjan hill (), rises in the western part of the peninsula. The ridges Kozjak () and its brother Mosor () protect the city from the north and northeast, and separate it from the hinterland.
Climate.
Split has a borderline humid subtropical ("Cfa") and Mediterranean climate ("Csa") in the Köppen climate classification, since only one summer month has less than of rainfall, preventing it from being classified as solely humid subtropical or Mediterranean. It has hot, moderately dry summers and mild, wet winters, which can occasionally feel cold, because of the strong northern wind bura. Average annual rainfall is more than . January is the coldest month, with an average low temperature around . November is the wettest month, with a precipitation total of nearly and 12 rainy days. July is the driest month, with a precipitation total of around . Winter is the wettest season; however, it can rain in Split at any time of the year. Snow is usually rare; since record-keeping began the months of December and January have accrued 1 snowy day on average, while February has averaged 2. In February 2012, Split received unusually large amount of snow which caused major problems with traffic. Split receives more than 2,600 sunshine hours annually. July is the hottest month, with an average high temperature around . In July 2017 Croatian firefighters battled to control a forest fire along the Adriatic coast that damaged and destroyed buildings in villages around the city of Split.
Demographics.
According to the 2011 census, the city of Split had 178,102 inhabitants.
Ethnically, Croats make up 96.23% of the population, and 86.15% of the residents of the city are Roman Catholics.
The settlements included in the administrative area of the City are:
The wider urban area of Split has 293,298 inhabitants, while there are 346,314 people in the Split metropolitan area. The urban area includes the surrounding towns and settlements: Okrug, Seget, Trogir, Kaštela, Solin, Podstrana, Dugi Rat and Omiš, while the metro area adds Marina, Primorski Dolac, Prgomet, Lećevica, Klis, Dugopolje, Dicmo, Trilj and Sinj. The entire Split-Dalmatia County has 454,798 residents, and the whole region of Dalmatia just under a million.
Inhabitants.
Although the inhabitants of Split ("Splićani") may appear to be a homogeneous body, they traditionally belong to three groups. The old urban families, the "Fetivi," (short for "Fetivi Splićani", "real Split natives") are generally very proud of their city, its history and its distinctive traditional speech (a variant of the Chakavian dialect). The "Fetivi," now a distinct minority, are sometimes referred to (semi-derogatorily) as "Mandrili" - and are augmented by the so-called "Boduli," immigrants from the nearby Adriatic islands who mostly arrived over the course of the 20th century.
The above two groups are distinct, in the Mediterranean aspects of their ethnicity and traditional Chakavian speech, from the more numerous Shtokavian-speaking immigrants from the rural Zagora hinterland, referred to as the "Vlaji" (a term that sometimes carries negative connotations). The latter joined the Fetivi and Boduli as a third group in the decades since World War II, thronging the high-rise suburbs that stretch away from the centre. By now the "Vlaji" constitute a decided majority of inhabitants, causing a distinct shift in the overall ethnic characteristics of the city. Historically more influenced by Ottoman culture, their population merges almost seamlessly at the eastern border with the Herzegovinian Croats and southern Bosnia and Herzegovina in general. Local jokes have always condemned the Vlaji to playing the role of rural unsophisticates, although it is often conceded that it was their hard work in the industries of the post-WWII era that made modern-day Split what it is now.
Economy.
Split's economy is still suffering the backlash from the recession caused by the transfer to a market economy and privatization. In the Yugoslav era, however, the city had been a highly significant economic centre with a modern and diverse industrial and economic base, including shipbuilding, food, chemical, plastics, textile, and paper industry, in addition to large revenues from tourism. In 1981 Split's GDP per capita was 37% above the Yugoslav average. Today, most of the factories are out of business (or are far below pre-war production and employment capacity) and the city has been trying to concentrate on commerce and services, consequently leaving an alarmingly large number of factory workers unemployed.
Brodosplit is the largest shipyard in Croatia. It employs around 2,300 people, and has built over 350 vessels, including many tankers, both panamax and non-panamax, as well as container ships, bulk carriers, dredgers, off-shore platforms, frigates, submarines, patrol boats and passenger ships. 80% of the ships built are exported to foreign contractors.
The new A1 motorway, integrating Split with the rest of the Croatian freeway network, has helped stimulate economic production and investment, with new businesses being built in the city centre and its wildly sprawling suburbs. The entire route was opened in July 2005. Today, the city's economy relies mostly on trade and tourism with some old industries undergoing partial revival, such as food (fishing, olive, wine production), paper, concrete and chemicals. Since 1998, Split has been host to the annual Croatia Boat Show.
Education.
There are 24 primary schools and 23 secondary schools including 11 grammar schools.
University.
The University of Split () was founded in 1974. In the last few years it has grown to a large extent. Now it has 26,000 students and is organized in 12 faculties and 1 Academy (Arts Academy – Theatre department, Music department, Fine arts department and design). Split has the biggest university campus in Croatia with all the facilities. It is house all of the faculties, a large student centre with a sports hall, sporting grounds and a university library.
Culture.
In 1979, the historic center of Split was included into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Split is said to be one of the centres of Croatian culture. Its literary tradition can be traced to medieval times, and includes names like Marko Marulić, while in more modern times Split excelled by authors famous for their sense of humor. Among them the most notable is Miljenko Smoje, famous for his TV series "Malo misto" and "Velo misto", with the latter dealing with the development of Split into a modern city.
Despite colorful settings and characters, as well as a cinema tradition that could be traced to early 20th-century works of Josip Karaman, there were relatively few films shot in or around Split. However, the city did produce several famous actors, most notably Boris Dvornik.
Also well known is Ivo Tijardović, and his famous operetta "Little Floramye" (). Both Smoje and Tijardović are famous artists thought to represent the old Split traditions that are slowly dying out due to the city being overwhelmed by large numbers of rural migrants from the undeveloped hinterland.
Museums and galleries.
The Archaeological Museum () main collection is housed at Zrinsko-Frankopanska 25 in Split. There is also a branch building in Solin (Salona and Tusculum Collection) and two regional centres at Vid near Metković (Narona Collection), and on the island of Vis (Issa Collection). The Split Archaeological Museum is the oldest museum institution in Croatia, founded in 1820 by the decree of the Dalmatian government in Zadar. 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). Of special interest is the collection of stone inscriptions from Salona and the collections of Graeco-Hellenistic ceramic objects, Roman glass, ancient clay lamps, bone and metal articles, as well as the collection of gems. In addition, the museum houses an extensive collection of ancient and medieval coins, a submarine archaeological collection, and a rich archive library.
The Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments () is the only museum in Croatia dedicated to researching and presenting cultural artifacts of the Croats in the Middle Ages, between the 7th and 15th centuries, particularly the time of the early medieval Croatian state from 9th to 12th century. The collection of early medieval wicker, clay figurines, and old Croatian Latin epigraphic monuments is the largest collection of its kind in Europe.
The Split City Museum () at Papalićeva 1, is housed in the former Papalić Palace. The collection presents the urban, cultural, artistic and economic heritage of the city. The museum is also home to the Emanuel Vidović Gallery, dedicated to the most important Split painter of the 20th century.
The Ethnographical Museum () at Severova 1, has a wide range of ethnographic content mainly from Dalmatia. Founded in 1910, the museum collects original and contemporary applications of traditional heritage. They also track contemporary popular culture living with traces of old foundations and preserve and promote the value of folk heritage, renewing them and presenting exhibitions.
The Croatian Maritime Museum () at Glagoljaška 18 – Tvrđava Gripe has a collection of marine equipment and supplies, weapons and navigation equipment, medals, ship models, uniforms and equipment, and related artwork. A permanent exhibition is planned to complete the presentation of military maritime and naval history, with a presentation that covers the period from the arrival of the Slavs to the present day.
The Split Science Museum and Zoo () located at Kolombatovićevo šetalište 2 on the Marjan peninsula.
The Gallery of Fine Arts (), located at Kralja Tomislava 15, is an art museum that contains works from the 14th century to the present day providing an overview of the artistic developments in the local art scene. The gallery was founded in 1931, and has a permanent exhibition of paintings and sculptures that includes works by major Croatian artists such as Vlaho Bukovac, Mato Celestin Medović, Branislav Dešković, Ivan Meštrović, Emanuel Vidović and Ignjat Job. The gallery also has an extensive collection of icons, and holds special exhibits of works by contemporary artists. In May 2009, the gallery opened its new premises in the old Split Hospital building behind Diocletian's Palace.
The Ivan Meštrović Gallery (), on the Marjan peninsula is an art museum dedicated to the work of the 20th-century sculptor, Ivan Meštrović. The gallery displays some of his most significant work, and the building itself is an art monument. The permanent collection includes works of sculpture, drawings, design, furniture and architecture. The gallery building and grounds were based on original plans by Meštrović himself, and included living and working areas, as well as exhibition spaces. Not far from the Gallery lies Kaštelet-Crikvine, a restored chapel that houses a set of wooden wall panels carved by Ivan Meštrović.
Music.
One of the most recognisable aspects of Split culture is popular music. Notable composers include Josip Hatze, Ivo Tijardović, Zdenko Runjić – some of the most influential musicians in former Yugoslavia. Also, the more notable musicians and bands from Split are Oliver Dragojević, Gibonni, Daleka Obala, Magazin, Severina, Dino Dvornik, Jasmin Stavros, Neno Belan, Goran Karan, Dražen Zečić, Doris Dragović, Jelena Rozga, Tutti Frutti, Siniša Vuco, Meri Cetinić and guitar player Petar Čulić. There is great cultural activity during summers, when the prestigious Split Music Festival is held, followed by the Split Summer ("Splitsko ljeto") theater festival. Since 2013, the Ultra Europe electronic music festival is held at the Poljud stadium in July.
Split also developed a prominent hip hop scene, with notable acts such as The Beat Fleet, Dječaci, Kiša Metaka and ST!llness.
Sports.
Sportsmen are traditionally held in high regard in Split, and the city is famous for producing many champions. The most popular sports in Split are association football, tennis, basketball, swimming, rowing, sailing, waterpolo, athletics, and handball. Residents of Split prefer to call their city as "the sportiest city in the world".
The main football club is HNK Hajduk Split, one of the most popular clubs in Croatia supported by a large fan association known as Torcida Split, while RNK Split is the city's second club. Torcida Split is the oldest fan group in Europe estimated 1950. The largest football stadium is the Poljud Stadium (Hajduk's ground), with around 35,000 capacity (55,000 prior to the renovation to an all-seater). Slaven Bilić, Aljoša Asanović, Igor Tudor, and Stipe Pletikosa are some of the famous Split natives who started their careers at Hajduk. Basketball is also popular, and the city basketball club, KK Split, holds the record of winning the EuroLeague three consecutive times (1989–1991), with notable players like Toni Kukoč and Dino Rađa, both of whom are Split natives.
Former WWE wrestler and WWE Hall of Fame member Josip Peruzović, better known as Nikolai Volkoff, was born in Split.
Split's most famous tennis players are the retired 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević, Mario Ančić ("Super Mario"), Nikola Pilić and Željko Franulović. Marina Eraković was also born in Split.
Members of the local rowing club HVK Gusar won numerous Olympic and World Championship medals.
Swimming also has a long tradition in Split, with Đurđica Bjedov (1968 Olympic gold medal and Olympic record in the 100 m breaststroke), Duje Draganja and Vanja Rogulj as the most famous swimmers from the city. As a member of the ASK Split athletics club, the champion Blanka Vlašić also originates from the city. The biggest sports events to be held in Split were the 1979 Mediterranean Games, and the 1990 European Athletics Championships.
Split was one of the host cities of the 2009 World Men's Handball Championship. The city constructed a new sporting arena for the event, the Spaladium Arena. Its capacity is around 12,000 spectators (in basketball events). The cost of the arena was evenly divided between the city and the government. Ivano Balić, two time IHF World Player of the Year is the most famous handball player to come from Split.
Split used to be the home to three highest-level waterpolo clubs, the winners of many domestic and international titles: Jadran (twice LEN Champions League winner), Mornar (LEN Cup Winners' Cup winner) and now defunct POŠK (one LEN Champions League, one LEN Super Cup and two times LEN Cup Winners' Cup winner). Many players from Split have participated at Olympic Games, World and European Championships, both for Croatia and Yugoslavia, having won a lot of medals. Several waterpolo players from Split during their careers have been considered the best in the World: Ratko Rudić, Damir Polić, Milivoj Bebić, Deni Lušić.
Picigin is a traditional local sport (originating in 1908), played on the famous sandy beach Bačvice. It is played in very shallow water (just ankle deep) with a small ball. Picigin is played by five players. The ball is the peeled tennis ball. There is a tradition of playing picigin in Split on New Year's Day, regardless of the weather conditions, in spite of the sea temperature rarely exceeding .
RK Nada were the pioneers of rugby union in this part of the World. They were by far the strongest club in the former Yugoslavia and they are also by far the most successful club in modern-day Croatia.
Baseball in Split is one of the city's longest traditions. Although the sport began semi-officially in December 1918 when a group of US sailors from a ship in port introduced the game to some young Croats, it was not until 1972 when a pair of teachers at a local school formed the Salona Baseball Club, named after the ancient Roman city of Salona.
The first actual game played in Split was on 9 September 1978 between Split (the new team moved here and was called Nada) and Jezice from Ljubljana (20–1 romp for the locals).
A schedule of games began in earnest and by 1980 there were regular league games. The next major milestone was in 1983 when the World Baseball Federation (IBAF) accepted Yugoslavia as an official member. The Croatian National Baseball Federation was established in 1989.
Today the Croatian national team (with 10 or more members coming from Split's Nada team) is ranked 25th in the world.
Split's team, Nada, plays its homegames at old Hajduk stadium, where the rugby club also plays. Alas, without a mound, it is not a regulation field. The team's main rival is Zagreb and there are teams from half a dozen other cities around the country. In addition to playing other Croatian teams, inter-league games are played and the team travels to Belgrade and other cities to play.
Although not a professional team or league, some player/coaches are paid. Several have pro experience and the new coach of the national team was a former major league pitcher with the LA Dodgers. The source material here is from Mladen Cukrov's book "There's No Ball Like Baseball" ("Nima baluna do bejzbola") and from the writer's experience as an assistant coach of the team for several years.
The Split SeaWolves is the only American football team in Dalmatia. Active from 2008, they are currently still developing and the main focus is on a flag football team.
Transportation.
Split is an important transport center for Dalmatia and the wider region. In addition to the Zagreb-Split freeway (A1), the traffic along the Adriatic coast on the Adriatic Highway from Rijeka to Dubrovnik flows through the city. The local public transport company Promet Split runs bus lines in the city and into the surroundings. There is no tram since the city is unsuitable for it due to its hilly geography but the Split Suburban Railway which runs from the Port of Split to Kaštel Stari.
The Split Airport in Kaštela, located about 20 km outside of Split, is the second largest in Croatia in terms of passenger numbers (3,301,930 in 2019). It has services to national and some European destinations year-round and sees lots of additional seasonal connections in the summer.
The Port of Split, which serves 4 million passengers every year, is the third busiest port in the Mediterranean. It connects Split to the nearby central Dalmatian islands Brač, Hvar and Šolta, as well as the more distant Vis, Korčula and Lastovo. There are also routes to Rijeka, Dubrovnik, and Ancona in Italy and additional seasonal routes to further destinations in Italy. Split is also becoming a major cruise ship destination, with over 260 ship visits, carrying 130,000 passengers.
International relations.
Twin towns—Sister cities.
Split is twinned with:
Partnerships.
Split is partnered with: