Benny Charles
Aug 31, 2018 · 6 min read

Over the Hill, Part Eighty-Nine; My Whole Day Was Ruin-ed

After getting up we had a quick breakfast, and we set off, quickly finding the bus stop we needed, as we had to be there by 9:15am, because there was only one bus an hour to our destination for the day, Klis, and we didn’t want to miss it. It arrived a little late, and once we got on board we were on our way out of Split, going up a very steep hill for thirty minutes until we reached the end of our journey. Klis is a small town, and it’s only famous for one thing; Klis Fortress, which was built over two thousand years ago, with most of it’s incredible history lost to the annals of time. After paying to get in we had a wander around, admiring the scenery, which was simply spectacular; it stretched out along the entire valley, and included Split and the bay it lies on.

There weren’t many people here, but the ones who were, all seemed to be Game of Thrones fans, as Klis Fortress has been used a few times as the backdrop to Meereen over the years. You can’t really tell just by looking at it, but there are certain areas that if you tilt your head and squint a bit, you can be fairly sure that you’re looking at a location used in the show. We checked some stills of the show afterwards, and you can more easily see the resemblance.

There are a few fenced off areas at Klis Fortress, but for the most part you can roam pretty much wherever you want. Roofs? No problem. Dangerous path to a ledge? All good. It’s a place that lends itself to exploring, and you’re constantly surprised by the random rooms and buildings that you find as you wander around. We even found a guy practicing his guitar randomly at one point; I think he worked there and was practising on his break! There is little info about the Fortress itself, which is a shame, but in one building there is a small exhibition about the Uskoks, a fierce warrior tribe who helped to hold off the Turks in the 16th Century (they were serious badasses, who were raised from an early age to fight), as well as some old weapons, including a sword from 1536! After you explore the fortress though there isn’t much else to do; it’s all outside in the searing heat, with almost nothing inside the buildings, which are mostly shells or completely closed off. There are some amazing views from all sides of the fortress, so we enjoyed that as much as we could, before we reluctantly made our way to the exit, to wait for the next bus. Unfortunately we’d just missed it, so we had to wait 75 minutes for the next one, but at least it gave us time to have a quick snacky lunch.

The bus finally arrived, and we got on eagerly, as our destination wasn’t Split, but rather a stop along the way; the town of Solin. After getting off at the right stop (an impressive feat considering we had no idea of where we were), we had to walk in the heat for twenty minutes until we reached our destination; the Salona ruins, which houses the ruins of a Roman town that existed on the site from 300–400 CE (after it was sacked by invaders, the survivors founded the town of Split), as well as an authentic Roman Amphitheater.

We almost missed the entrance because there were no signs; just a dirt road where a lady sat at a fold up table with an umbrella, and charged entry. You’d think an area that has ruins that are almost two thousand years old would have more staff than one person, but not here. Welcome to Croatia! Any doubts we had about the site were dispelled though as we reached the site of the first ruins. There were the remains of an old Roman era building, complete with pillars, and you could go wherever you wanted. I started clambering over the ruins like a school kid, checking it out from every angle before we moved on. There were a few information points as you passed, but the English was very scientific and wordy (as if they’d put it through Google Translate), so it was hard to follow; it just gave you a quick snapshot of what you had before you. Most of it was old churches, as they were usually the most solid buildings in a town.

The next area was expansive, and after working my way down, I set about exploring the old buildings, some of which still had walls, while Alex just watched from the shadows, the heat taking it’s toll after all the walking we’d done.

After a good amount of time we moved on, finding more ruins in different places (including one large area right next to a highway), before we finally reached the end; the Roman Amphitheater. It was huge, and still mostly intact. You could spot the remains of the stands where people sat, and entrances used by gladiators and other competitors to enter the arena. We had a lot of fun exploring it from all sides, before reluctantly taking our leave. It was a long walk back to the bus stop, but it didn’t take long for a bus to appear, and before we knew it we were back in Split. Looking back, we both had a ball at both places, and while they’re a little out of the way, they’re both definitely worth the trip (if you can find them!)

We collapsed in bed, dripping with sweat, and ended up having an afternoon nap, before I cooked dinner for Alex (seriously, she deserved a break), and we had an early night. We had a big day coming up; travelling to one of the places we’d been looking forward to the most on our trip; the ancient town of Dubrovnik.

Benny Charles

Written by

Traveller, Writer, and lover of Yoshis