Salona

Salona (Ancient Greek: Σάλωνα) was an ancient city on the Dalmatian coast. The name Salona preserves the language of the early inhabitants of this area whom the Romans called Dalmatae, and considered to be part of a larger group called Illyrians. In the first millennium BCE, the Greeks had set up an emporion (marketplace) there. After the conquest by the Romans, Salona became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The city quickly acquired Roman characteristics: walls, a forum, a theater an amphitheater- –the most conspicuous above-ground remains today—public baths and an aqueduct. Many inscriptions in both Latin and Greek have been found both inside the walls and in the cemeteries outside, since Romans forbad burial inside city boundaries. A number of fine marble sarcophagi from those cemeteries are now in the Archaeological Museum of Split. All this archaeological evidence attests to the city's prosperity and integration into the Roman Empire.

When the Roman Emperor Diocletian retired, he erected a monumental palace nearby; this massive structure, known as Diocletian's Palace, became the core of the modern city of Split. Salona’s continuing prosperity resulted in extensive church building in the fourth and fifth centuries, including an Episcopal basilica and a neighboring church and baptistery inside the walls, and several shrines honoring martyrs outside. These have made it a major site for studying the development of Christian religious architecture. Salona was largely destroyed in the invasions of the Avars and Slavs in the sixth and seventh centuries CE. Refugees from Salona settled inside the remains of Diocletian's Palace. Salona (or Salon) is situated near today's town of Solin, about 5 km.from Split.