SPLIT (SPALATO), DIOCESE OF. — A city and diocese in Croatia (Yugoslavia). The diocese covers an area of 3,668 sq. km. with a population of 306,340, of whom 285,400 are Catholic; it is divided into 7 deaneries comprising 146 parishes and 6 independent chaplaincies served by 153 diocesan priests and 94 regular clergy; it has a seminary, 14 male religious communities and 31 female ones (*Ann. Pont. 1952*, p. 385).
Split arose, like its predecessor the ancient Salona (v.), not far from it, and its origins are to be traced to the municipal life that unfolded within the perimeter of Diocletian’s Palace, which after the Emperor’s death became public property and was inhabited by a population largely drawn from nearby Salona. Within its walls lived the deposed Emperor Julius Nepos. Some of the refugees from Salona escaped by moving to the nearby
Illyrian Provinces (1809–13). A second Austrian occupation ended nearly a whole century later (1813–1918); at that point the city became part of the new State of the South Slavs (Yugoslavia).
The Church of Split is the heir of Salona, which before that city’s destruction had been metropolitan for all Dalmatia. Organized by John of Ravenna, who was the first archbishop of Split, in the course of the 7th century, it inherited and maintained primacy among the other dioceses of Dalmatia until 1828, when by the bull *Locum Beati Petri* of Leo XII it became a simple suffragan diocese of Zara.
The Church of Split must be considered to have played a part in the conversion of the Slavic population of Dalmatia, thanks to its relations with the early princes. After the two Councils held at Split (in 925 and 928), which placed on the agenda the question of primacy over Croatian territory in competition with the Croatian bishop of Nona, the archbishop of Split secured metropolitan jurisdiction and began to style himself *Primas Dalmatiae et Croatae*. The territory dependent on the archdiocese of Split gradually diminished with the creation of new dioceses (Antivari and Ragusa, in the 11th century) or with the formation of other archdioceses (Zara), under whose jurisdiction some of the suffragans of the archbishop of Split passed (Veglia, Ossero, and Arbe). Finally, the creation of a new diocese at Lesina (in 1147) further reduced the diocese of Split itself, with the loss of the two Dalmatian islands, Lesina and Brazza. A further reduction occurred during the Turkish incursions into Dalmatian territory; once these ceased, Split reacquired the lost territories.
By the bull mentioned above of 1828, the diocese of Traù was abolished, and its territory was largely annexed to the diocese of Split. The diocese of Macarsa, on the other hand, by the same bull was associated with the diocese of Split, so that from that time the bishop of Split has also been bishop of Macarsa (*episcopus Spalatensis et Macarensis*, once *Salonitanus*).
The mausoleum of Diocletian (v. SALONA), converted into a Christian church already in the 7th century, soon after the organization of the Church of Split, is today the Cathedral dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary Assumed. The patron of the diocese and city of Split is St Doimus, bishop and martyr, whose feast falls on March 7. The most important churches and convents in the city of Split include: the church and convent of St Francis, near the sea (whose foundation is traditionally attributed to the Saint himself), the church of Our Lady of Graces at Paludi, with the Franciscan convent, the church of Our Lady of Health, with the Franciscan convent (parish church), the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, with the Capuchin convent (parish church), the church of St Dominic, with the Dominican convent, the church of the Holy Cross (parish church); other churches of high historical and artistic interest. Finally, the episcopal seminary and the theological seminary complete the series of ecclesiastical institutions in the city.
Among the most important and well-known archbishops of Split are: John of Ravenna, organizer of the Church of Split; Lawrence of Dalmatia, friend and trusted figure of King Zvonimir (11th century); Lawrence Zane, nephew of Pope Eugenius IV and titular Patriarch of Antioch; Marcantonio de Dominis, scientist and later heretic (17th century); Stefano Cupilli, whom Innocent XII called another St Francis de Sales; P. Bizza, noted collaborator of Riepenti (*Illyricum sacrum*).
The most notable artists of Split include: the sculptor A. Buvina, author of the cathedral doors; T. Arcidiacono, medieval chronicler and author of the *Historia Salonitana* (13th century); Marko Marulić (Marulus), humanist philosopher and poet. Many Dalmatian and foreign artists worked in Split, leaving vivid traces of their activity.
