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The interest in Croatia's cultural-historical monuments has been present ever since the ancient times. In the early 16th century, Dominik Papalic, a nobleman and humanist from Split, set up in his house a collection of ancient inscriptions, which he found during the many walks with Marko Marulic, "the father of Croatian Literature", among the ruins of Salona. (On view in the Atrium of the Archaeological Museum are five original inscriptions that have been preserved from this collection). Marulic wrote the "catalogue", i.e. the "guide" to the collection.

Another important date in the development of museum activity in Split was the establishment of the Archdiocesan Museum in 1750 that housed an extensive collection of Latin inscriptions, predominantly originating from ancient Salona.

Inscriptions from the Papalic Collection

The museum building erected in 1821 next to the eastern walls of the Diocletian's Palace

As the oldest museum institution in Croatia, the Split Archaeological Museum was founded in 1820 by the decree of the Dalmatian government in Zadar. The incentive for the establishment of the Museum was provided by the visit of Emperor Francis I to Dalmatia in 1818, which also included visits to Split and Solin. The original museum building was erected in 1821 next to the eastern walls of Diocletian's Palace, but soon became too small to house the growing number of monuments.

Bista don Frane Bulića, rad Ivana Meštrovića A new era in the development of archaeology in Croatia is associated with the work and activity of Father Frano Bulic, director of the Split Museum since 1884.

Father Frano Bulic (Vranjic, 1846 - Zagreb, 1934), a catholic priest, archaeologist, historian, and conservator, had for more than 50 years been working as a field researcher, conservator and writer. He is known as the founder of the Croatian archaeological society "Bihac" that was established in Split in 1894.

In addition to his, he initiated the construction of the present building of the Split Archaeological Museum that was built in 1914 according to the designs by Viennese architects A. Kirstein i F. Ohman, known as the designers of a similar museum building in Carnuntum near Vienna. The museum complex consists of the main building housing the exhibition hall on the ground and the library and offices on the first floor, a covered atrium and a well-tended garden. The new building was not to open its door to the public until the beginning of 1922, its inauguration having been postponed by the war.

Lapidarij In addition to his, he initiated the construction of the present building of the Split Archaeological Museum that was built in 1914 according to the designs by Viennese architects A. Kirstein i F. Ohman, known as the designers of a similar museum building in Carnuntum near Vienna. The museum complex consists of the main building housing the exhibition hall on the ground and the library and offices on the first floor, a covered atrium and a well-tended garden. The new building was not to open its door to the public until the beginning of 1922, its inauguration having been postponed by the war. The Museum conducts archaeological research on a regular basis on location in Salona, Narona and Issa. It has a branch building in Solin - Tusculum, as well as two regional archaeological collections - the Narona Collection in Vid near Metkovic and the Issa Collection in Vis. Some 150,000 artifacts (ranging in date from prehistoric times, the period of Greek colonization of the Adriatic, the Roman and Early Christian periods to the early Middle Ages and the period of Croatian popular rulers) are arranged in separate collections. Of special interest is the collection of stone inscriptions from Salona (around 6000) and the collections of Graeco-Hellenistic ceramic objects, Roman glass, ancient clay lamps (around 1600), bone and metal articles, as well as the collection of gems (the largest in the country). In addition, the Museum houses an extensive collection of ancient and medieval coins (over 70,000) and a rich library with an archive. The new permanent display will be opened in the renovated Museum at the beginning of 1999.