IT | EN

Imago Dalmatiae. Itinerari di viaggio dal Medioevo al Novecento

Spalato

"On July 30th we continued our voyage, and arrived about 12 in the elysium of Dalmatia, the bay of Spalatro. The country possess nothing in real abundance but melons, and these by no means so fine as at Spalatro. The lower orders of people, from their cheapness, make them their principal food (p. 62). To a traveller a grievous nuisance was the number of vermin: the quantity of flies at Spalatro is inconceivable; the vendors are obliged to be always on the alert to drive away with small rods of paper the swarms that settle (p. 64).
Without at present reflecting on the coup d'oeil of situation, I will hurry again with the eagerness I then felt, to the superb mansion, that in the times of Rome was formed as a temporary retreat, but which is now, even in ruin, a wonder of the world (p. 47). With respect to the modern part of Spalatro is contructed principally out of the ruins of the Diocletian's palace, and it rose after the destruction of Salona. The Venetians conceived it to be the most convenient port to carry on their trade with Turkey, and hence, till within these few last years, its commerce was considerable; but the lazaretto in which the goods are deposited is now burned down, and the strict quarantine that they are at present forced to undergo, in a miserable building up the country, deters much intercourse. The French, during the time of their possession, employed their taste, as usual, in forming a public promenade at the west end of the town; but the spot is little frequented, for in the evening, the only time in this glowing clime for exercise, an adjoining sulphureous spring emits a most intolerable odour. The waters of the spring are famous among the inhabitants of the country for their medical efficacy (p. 56)".