A UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Game of Thrones filmset, and now Indiana Jones and Lara Croft are the the basement of Diocletian’s Palace on May 18, 2016.
Diocletian’s palace basements are one of the most attractive sights in Split. They are a must see for everyone who visits Split and are one of the main reasons why we can nowadays reconstruct the purpose of each hall in the palace as their structure is the replica of the upper chambers. These labyrinth-like late antique basements were used in Diocletian’s time as actual storage, while in the Middle Ages they were used as a residential area and place to leave the rubbish for the houses built above them. The cleaning and reconstruction of basements started in the 19th century and now we have them as amazing tourist attraction as well as a symbol of heritage of Split.
Palace basements are often used for different events like this weekends’ Vinski podrum wine exhibition, St. Duje flower fair, and many more different exhibitions, concerts and events. They are also the place which was used as filming set for the Game of Thrones season 4 and 5 and everyone knows the great hall from the basements is the place where Daenerys locked her dragons. The publicity which came with Game of Thrones attracts more and more people to visit the basements where heritage meets mysterious vibe.
Split city museum recently thought of the way how to attract even more visitors to Diocletians palace basements. They created an educational workshop/tour of basements named “Search for hidden treasure of Emperor Diocletian with Indiana Jones and Lara Croft”. The aim of this tour is to find treasure hidden somewhere in the basements with help from different clues which can be found in the halls, and of course Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Split city museum hired students who dress up as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft and assist participants in their search for clues. Knowledgeable and skilled, they have a job to educate about the basements and help to find the clues. As the basements still have sights like a sphinx, sarcophagus, columns, and ancient oil press, with use of the newly acquired facts (or maybe previous knowledge), participants need to look for different clues that lead to the exact location of the hidden treasure. The workshop starts at the entrance and continues in different basements halls until the treasure is found. The clues can be found in almost each hall of the basements and are mixture of crosswords, puzzles, anagrams and riddles. They are adapted based on the different age groups and interests and depending on the workshop can be more or less demanding. The participants can get Passport through past – a personalised booklet with all the important facts about Split and the workshop.
The workshop had its premiere on The Night of the Museums in January and again earlier this week, in honour of 36th International day of the museums. The workshop is an interactive way of learning about history of Split and it in same time encourages team work and makes whole visit to the basements more fun. The workshop is made for tourists who don’t want to hear just facts and figures about the basements but actually explore them. It is also made for locals, especially school children, as an educational tour of well known heritage. With up to 15 participants and after approximately 1 hour, the treasure is found (always on different location). Regardless of who is on the workshop and how demanding it is, it is a good way of exploring spectacular heart of Split and making something we already have even more special.
