September 27, 2020 – Divota Apartment Hotel in Split has opened a yoga and meditation center as part of its holistic spa offer. Meet the Divota Yoga Garden!
Slobodna Dalmacija reports that directly opposite the new mural on Plinarska Street, there is a small antique door on an old stone house. Green, wooden, with an opening covered with a masterfully executed “lattice” of wrought iron. When you head down a long portico corridor paved with old stone slabs, you don’t expect much and actually wonder where this magical garden might be. As you continue along, you come across a small stone courtyard – and then a view of the greenest oasis in this part of town appears.
The garden is surrounded by an old wall on one side and low buildings blended into the ambiance. Silence, peace, and relaxation are inescapable. This calming atmosphere was the goal in designing this newly opened Divota Yoga Garden, which will be a place for not only guests of the Divota hotel to relax, but also for citizens who can practice yoga here.
And we are not talking about just any yoga exercises, but Tibetan healing yoga, which, according to the teacher of zen-yoga, Lu Jong yoga and retreat manager at the Divota Yoga Garden, Sandra Neretljakovic, has not been applied in Croatia thus far.
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Lana Lakic Kolic, the general manager of the Divota hotel, said that the Divota owner lives in Switzerland and is an avid follower of yoga and healthy living. Now she has finally found a place in Split where she can combine those two things, and even more than that; to offer guests and yoga students drinks and snacks from raw products grown according to permaculture in their fields in Smokovika and Meje.
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In an area of about 900 square meters, there is a 108-square-meter hall with sliding glass walls, which is now open so people can enjoy the greenery as they exercise.
The entire architectural project was led by architect Sasa Bui, who revealed that everything was created following conservation conditions. However, they sought to achieve harmony between modern and classical.
“Everything here had to be of simple shapes, clean lines, simply as the whole of Varos is. The hall is surrounded by greenery and it was important to connect the interior and exterior, and they imagined that exterior as an enchanted Mediterranean garden,” says Sasa Bui. It will be even more magical when the recently-planted plants grow, the architect notes.
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Arsen Roje, together with Erik Radic, devised the landscaping.
“We imagined a real Mediterranean garden with olive trees, cypresses. We have preserved two older laurels and a fig tree on the east side. We wanted to achieve a functional space ‘divided’ by plants.
Around the main trail, we planted a trellis of olives and rosemary. In the middle is a lawn on which to practice, and in the middle is a ‘pepper tree,’ or the Latin Schinus molle, which will grow and create shade. It is evergreen and has a beautiful trunk, bumpy like an olive. We divided the space with other plants into small places where benches will be placed, as small booths for resting after exercises. We also paid attention to the colors in the garden, that they are in line with the colors of Divota, white, blue, shades of purple… and everything to blend with old courtyards,” said Arsen Roje.
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Lana Lakic Kolic revealed that they lowered the materials, plants, and all large items into the courtyard with the help of a large crane located across from the house.
Lakic added that everything will be ecologically maintained in the center as well, and be cleaned daily with vinegar and baking soda.
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