Golden Gate

The largest and most architecturally complete of the palace's four original gates, the Golden Gate faces north toward the former Roman road to Salona. The outer facade has two circular towers and a gallery with blind arches above the entrance passage — the full Roman treatment applied to the most important gate. The inner arch and the original Corinthian pilasters are both visible.

Just outside the Golden Gate stands Ivan Meštrović's enormous bronze statue of Gregory of Nin (Grgur Ninski) — the 10th-century Croatian bishop who championed the use of Croatian rather than Latin in the church liturgy. The statue is one of the most recognisable monuments in Croatia; the rubbing of the great toe, worn gold by the superstitious hands of millions of tourists, is an irresistible cliché. From the gate looking south, the lane runs straight through the old town to the Peristyle.

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A story
The Golden Gate was Diocletian's main ceremonial entrance — the gate through which he would have entered or departed the palace in his imperial procession. The road north from this gate led directly to Salona, the provincial capital, where most of the administrative machinery of Roman Dalmatia was based. When Salona was sacked in the 7th century, refugees from the city flooded south through this same gate to take shelter in the palace.