United States or French Guiana ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Preference was given to Pola on account of its connection with the main railway lines, for which the archæologist and artist may be thankful. On the slopes of one lie the ruins of Salona; on the other, those of Epetium; in front is the sea, always peaceful, being sheltered by the islands of Solta and Brazza; and beyond Marjan the land-locked Salonitan port.
On Monte Marjan, near Spalato, where Diocletian had his parks, the sheltered aspect creates a tropical climate. Wild aloes grow 6 ft. high, and in midwinter numbers of field flowers may be picked as if it were spring. The people of Istria and Dalmatia are a very mixed race, as might be expected from the history of the countries.
A new museum is to be built near the agricultural college on the way to the monastery of the Paludi, which lies on the shore on the Salona side of Marjan, with cypresses in its grassy forecourt, and a garden beyond the cloister. This convent is Franciscan, but was founded by Benedictines in the eleventh century, the Franciscans taking their place in the fifteenth century.
The long island of Bua stretched towards the strait, by which the ancient port of Salona was approached; a land-locked bay, from the other side of which above the peninsula of Monte Marjan rose the campanile of the cathedral of Spalato, swathed in the scaffolding of its long-continuing restoration; beyond was the sea, with the southern islands in the distance, and the littoral chain growing pale in aerial perspective.
Word Of The Day