| Marjan | |
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Split harbour and Marjan in the background. |
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| Elevation | 178 m (584 ft) |
| Location | |
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Marjan
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| Location | Marjan Park-Forest, Dalmatia, Croatia |
| Range | Dinaric Alps |
Marjan (pronounced "MARyan") is a hill on the peninsula of the city of Split, largest city of Croatia's Dalmatia region. It is covered in a dense Mediterranean pine forest and completely surrounded by the city and the sea, making it a unique sight. Originally used as a park by the citizens as early as the 3rd century, it is a favorite weekend excursion destination and a recreational center for the city. It is also the setting for numerous beaches and jogging trails as well as tennis courts and the city ZOO, all surrounded by the scenic forest. The tip of the peninsula houses the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries (Institut za oceanografiju i ribarstvo, IZOR).
Marjan is 178 m tall and offers a view of the entire city, the surrounding islands, and the nearby mountains of Mosor and Kozjak
In ancient times Emperor Diocletian built his palace a few minutes walk from Marjan. This opulent palace-city was actually inhabited by up to 8,000 to 10,000 people,[1] who required parks and recreation space, Diocletian therefore organized some areas of Marjan nearer to the palace as a park.[2] There is also a small rustic 13th century AD church situated on Marjan Hill.[3]
Marjan has become a symbol of Split in the last century and a half, before that it was considered an ordinary part of the landscape. As the city grew, however, it was left out because of its rocky and difficult terrain, and became, in effect, a part of the wilderness next to the very center of the city. Soon the citizens started to frequent it as a picnic spot and a romantic retreat, its many beaches adding to its popularity as well.
During the Second World War, Marjan was the subject of a popular Partisan song "Marjane, Marjane", sung by the Split (and Dalmatian) members of that anti-fascist movement and was reportedly a favorite song of resistance leader and future president of the new SFR Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. Indeed the flamboyant Partisan leader was so fond of the hill itself, he chose it as the site for the summer residence of the Yugoslav president, the Vila Dalmacija. In the 1950s, during the period of the second Yugoslavia, the Federal Government, in conjunction with local Split authorities, undertook a massive project for the transformation of the entire wild hill into a forest park. The hill was intensively forested (large parts of it were barren until then), many recreational facilities were built, including jogging tracks, a road system encircling the peninsula, a maritime research institute, the Split City Zoo (now fallen into disrepair), botanical garden (recently abandoned) and a water pipeline reaching all the way to the top of the hill. The authorities also constructed the city weather station and two "vidilice", or "look-out points", as resting places connected with a long stairway all the way to the Diocletian's Palace, the "Riva" promenade and the rest of the city center.