Archaeological Museum in Split

The Archaeological Museum in Split is the oldest museum institution in Croatia and houses a comprehensive collection of around 150,000 artifacts documenting the history of Dalmatia from prehistoric times to the early Middle Ages. It was founded in 1820 by a decree of the Austrian government, based on earlier private and church collections. The present building, designed in the Neo-Romanesque style by Viennese architects, opened in 1922, after World War I. It consists of a two-story main building with exhibition rooms and a library, surrounded by arcades for the lapidarium and a garden. Visitors can explore eight different collections, including finds from the Illyrians, Greek-Hellenistic ceramics, Roman glass and stonework, and a significant coin collection. The museum is also active in research and regularly carries out excavations at historic sites such as Salona and Issa.