Cellars and Two Meštrović Galleries

This afternoon, I visited Diocletian’s Cellars and two galleries dedicated to the works of sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), who, according to my tour book, was Croatia’s most important artist. (To be honest, I’d never heard of him. But I’m a cultural philistine, and this is my first time in Croatia, so that’s not surprising.)

That involved a lot more walking in addition to my hiking up Marjan Park this morning, although much of this afternoon’s walking resulted from bad planning on my part. More on that later. Let’s get into it.

Diocletian’s Cellars

Diocletian’s Cellars are cavernous spaces under what used to be Diocletian’s Palace. The palace was built on a hill and the cellars were constructed to level out the palace.

In Diocletian’s time, water filled the cellars from the sea, a freshwater spring, and a sulphur spring. The information I found was ambiguous, but I think that was intentional.

After the time of the palace, locals used the cellars as a dump. Archaeologists more recently cleaned them out. The supporting pillars and walls they found there allowed them to impute the layout of the long-since destroyed palace that used to be above the cellars.

Today, near the entrance, there is a large topographical map of Split. I think that’s now a permanent exhibit.

A couple of the halls in the cellars currently contain an exhibition of works by a modern whimsical sculptor, Neno Mikilić. Or, at least, many of the works he displays in the cellars are whimsical. I don’t know if that’s his signature. The juxtaposition of the new art in the old cellars added to the whimsy. I assume the exhibition is temporary. So, you might not find it there if you visit.

Some of the other rooms contain architectural forms and other artifacts that I assume were from the original palace.

Beyond that, it’s interesting to wander around and gawk at the cavernous spaces and the large supporting pillars and walls that held up the palace at one time.

An Aside

Please bear with me while I provide some advice to inexperienced travellers.

Before you head out each day, carefully research the sights you want to visit that day and map them out to choose the best order to visit them in. Include one or two extras in case you complete your list faster than you expected.

In the off chance that you are sufficiently foolish, and you’d have to be monumentally foolish indeed, to take any of my advice whatsoever, this should be it: Do as I say, not as I do.

I typically don’t follow the advice I gave above.

Usually, at the beginning of the day, I re-skim briefly whatever source(s) I use on that trip and get a rough idea of what I want to do in the morning. I keep that list in my head, which is definitely not the safest place for it.

If I placed more than one item on my morning mental list, I choose where to start using a tiny smidgen of logic and a large dollop of inexplicable randomness. Often it’s the place I most want to see that I haven’t already seen to make sure I don’t miss it. But not always.

I then repeat the process in the afternoon.

Surprisingly, this very cursory research and planning often works out well for me. Sometimes not.

This afternoon was one of the not times.

After the cellars, I went to the next place on my mental list and found it closed. I pulled out my trusty iPhone and found that, yes indeed. It closes on Saturday and Sunday. Today is Sunday.

I found a bench, sat down, and researched the other places I wanted to visit this afternoon. All of them either close entirely on Sundays or closed too early in the afternoon on Sundays for me to visit today. It never occurred to me that that might happen. In my travels, some places close on Mondays, and occasionally on Tuesdays. So I’m more careful to check opening days and times on those days. But my experience has been that tourist attractions rarely close Sundays. So I’m less careful then.

I opened up my guidebook on my phone and looked for other places to visit. I found two that not only opened Sundays, but stayed open until early evening, the Meštrović galleries.

The thing is, they are about a half hour walk from the closed sight and from The Riva, where I found a bench.

They are on the Marjan Peninsula, a part not in the park, but rather on a long plateau not far above sea level. Had I done my research and known I’d be going there I could have saved myself a lot of steps if I went there from lunch rather than after the cellars.

Let that be a lesson to me. Do my research before setting out. Or, rather, let that be a lesson to you. I’m a lousy student and will no doubt repeat my mistake sooner than later.

Meštrović Gallery

The Meštrovic Gallery sits on the other side of a road that runs parallel to and not far back from the sea. Walking through the gate presents two sculpture gardens on lawns on either side of the sidewalk leading to the gallery. The gallery sits atop a set of wide steps.

The bronze statues in the gardens, are, obviously, by Meštrović. More Meštrović sculptures are on display inside the museum.

Most of the sculptures in the gallery are bronze too, but it also exhibits a few marble, wood, and plaster Meštrović sculptures. The gallery displays some sketches and paintings by him as well.

The majority of Meštrović’s subjects are nudes, both males and females. Two large sculptures of a similar form, one male and one female, stand almost next to each other. Their heads are each turned in the direction of the other, but not making eye contact. Both of them have their arms crossed above their heads. Most of their bodies look like natural, if well-chiselled forms. The arms, however, are very blocky. That probably conveys some deeper hidden meaning, but it’s lost on me.

I don’t know what possessed me to describe those sculptures and not any of the others. You don’t have to like it, but you get what you get.

Meštrović’s Caštelet Chapel

During his life, Meštrović bought a 16th-century fortified building to display some of his wood pieces. (My guidebook says it was a palace, but the site calls it a church. It’s rather small to be respectably called a palace. But what do I know? It’s possible it was a palace but got called a church only after Meštrović installed his work.

Today it’s called Caštelet Chapel (Meštrović’s Crikvine). The building itself is rustically charming. It sits back from the road behind a couple of small olive groves one on either side of the short path leading in.

In front of the building is a stone courtyard surrounded by porticoes with red tile roofs. Through a doorway in the porticoes, on the other side of the courtyard from the road, there is a small terrace with a nice view of the sea.

The building itself is pleasingly simple. It also has a red tile roof.

Inside, Meštrović mounted a row of carved relief panels that fill the length of the two facing side walls. The panels are all joined to form one long strip.

Each panel depicts a different bible scene (New Testament). At the front of the chapel, a large crucifix carved by Meštrović hands on the wall and appears to be made of the same wood as the panels.

It’s quite lovely.

Another day. Another journal entry is done. See you tomorrow.