We drove south from Postojna, Slovenia, yesterday, and stayed in the town Opatia, Croatia, located at the north-westernmost of Balkan Peninsula facing the Adriatic Sea.
Now this morning we left Hotel Opatia at 7:30, and drove fast along the seacoast south to south for 400 km. It took about six hours with lunch time.
The temperature this morning was below ten degrees, and it went up and up to 25 degrees when we got to Zadar.

This historic town Zadar facing the Adriatic Sea is little impressive in my mind after the travel somehow due to the adverse effect of the serene weather.
At the seashore Emiko said, "This town looks like Monaco." Thinking so too, I looked around and remembered the travel two years ago in autumn when we toured around France from Monaco ending to Paris. The weather at Cote d'Azur was all the same here.
The dike along the sea is called a "sea organ", a grand instrument playing the sound of waves like a pipe organ. When the sea is running high or ships are kicking up waves, what sound does the dike play? Now the sea is so calm that it plays only quiet sounds on and off.
Hearing the feeble sounds far from the symphony No. 3 with Organ composed by Saint-Saens, our couple sat on stone steps and were relaxed for a while. Several sail boats were nice accessories in the calm scenery.

We walked around the Old Town. It was surrounded by the castle wall and in it many churches.

The narrow paths lined by old houses on both sides were stone-paved here and there said to be put in 15th century, the Renaissance era. The worn-out surface were slippery, but tasteful with traces of the past.

The walls of many apartment houses retained the vivid traces of bullets either due to the Allied Forces when this area was under the control of Italy during the World War 2 or due to the subsequent civil war of Former Yugoslavia.
Such views here will be seen at most of the visiting places later.

We joined in the optional tour for one hour and a half here in Trogir.
The small island surrounded by the fortress is this town. The bridge connects the town with the main land. It was authorized as the World Heritage Site in 1997.

We had enough time to walk around in St. Rovro Cathedral, the special feature of Trogir sightseeing.
It was built between the end of 12th century and 15th century, with the Cathedral part in Romanesque style and the upper parts from the second floor of the belfry in the Venetian Gothic style.
The guide emphasized that this balance was splendid.

Trogir City itself was built as a colonial city of Greece in 385 B.C., and the road network of the right angle was constructed around that time.
It is also a historic town with public and private houses, a square and a fortress built through many generations since the medieval era.

The spaces tucked away on alleys were made use of for clothes-drying areas with no exception. Not looked like damaging aesthetic appearance, they were the original scenes to make sense to us with the wisdom for everyday life alive on the contrary. The similar scenes were often seen in the other old towns.

Split, the second largest city next to Zagreb in Croatia, is located along the Adriatic Sea within 40 km south from Trogir. After leaving Trogir by bus, we arrived here at 10:30 soon when the attendant began the explanation.
The words often heard during this trip is the "Mediterranean climate". The peculiar blue sky and fresh air. Clear! It is now late summer here, not fall in the season. The sea is brilliant emerald-green probably due to thick salinity. Swimming is probably still OK, as there are several men and women wearing swimming suits.
After walking along the seashore for 30 minutes, we are going to the desired Diocletian's Palace.

The palace is located in the center of the Old Town of Split. Diocletianus (245-313), the Roman Emperor, built it before retirement and stayed here for several years until his death.

This Diocletian Palace was once a small city accomodating 9,000 people.
The towers stand out each at the facades on the west, north and east sides, and the south side faces the sea.
It is said that white local limestone and high-quality marble were used for the construction, and most of the marble were carried from the quarry on Brac Island nearby. True or not, the marble of the White House of the US are from the same island.

We looked around this architecture in detail.
The inside and the courtyard remain almost as they used to be, and people live here now.
It was a strange sight just like in the past 3rd or 4th century when under the control of the Roman Empire.

I have made sure of the proverb "All roads lead to Rome". I now feel that the pleasure of the travel in Europe will be different widely by the degree to know the history of Roman Empire.
When was it that I bought the whole hard-cover set of "The Story of the Romans" of 12 volumes written by Nanami Shiono? I only read the first and second books and have stopped it now. I just remember that Diocletianus appeared a little in the second.
I will begin to restart reading it, truly.

I travelled around Egypt in June last year. Alexandria, the mouth of the Nile, is famous for Cleopatra. I saw some remains called the pillar of Pompeii there, which perhaps had some relations with Diocletianus.
I checked the travelogue of mine with this vague memory. Yes, I found the part.
And yet the power of the Roman Emperor is immeasurable. Even 1700 years ago, he took over Egypt faraway and expanded its culture.
The following is the part in my travelogue around Egypt in June, 2008.

This is one of the then 400 pillars of the library attached to Serapeum Temple. How were those pillars carried here to the northern end of Egypt from Aswan at the southern end, though the Nile River played an impotant role in transportation?
The temple was destroyed in 391 by Christians, and so, this pillar is the only one to think of the library.

The underground ruins of the library was vivid enough to impress me. The unearthed goods lined on the passage were also worthwhile.

Diocletian's Palace in Roman era is, say, exceptional.
While walking, the guide stopped sometimes and explained the concrete examples of a transition of architecture from the medieval era to today, pointing toward the buildings lined on the both sides.
Cipriano de Ciprianis Palace (Romanesque style, 14th century), Old City Office (Gothic style, 15th century), Milesi Palace (Baroque style, 18th century), Prokrativ Old Republic Square (Neo Renaissance, 19th century), Old sulpher hot spring (Art Nouveau, early 20th century).