Croatian National Theatre in Split

The Croatian National Theatre in Split stands in the heart of the city, a late 19th-century building designed by local architects Emilio Vecchietti and Ante Bezić. Its interior decoration was carried out by Eugenio Scomparini, Napoleone Cozzi and Josip Varvodić, creating a space that once seated a thousand spectators. At its opening in 1893 it was the largest theatre in Southeast Europe, a time when Split had only sixteen thousand inhabitants. The building began as the Split Municipal Theatre, staging performances by travelling troupes, mostly Italian, before a permanent company was formed. In 1920 it became the Dalmatian National Theatre after its first renovation and name change. The theatre’s history reflects the cultural shifts of the region, from royal mergers in the 1920s to wartime closures during the Italian occupation in 1941. After the Second World War it reopened on 1 July 1945 with a play by Mirko Bogović, marking the start of continuous operation. A major fire in February 1970 destroyed most of the building, but the ensembles performed elsewhere until the reconstruction finished in May 1980. Today it hosts around three hundred performances each year, drawing audiences of roughly one hundred and twenty thousand. Visitors find a theatre that remains the leading house in Dalmatia, offering opera, ballet, drama and symphony concerts with its own orchestra. The building also anchors two important festivals: Splitsko ljeto, running for thirty days from mid-July to mid-August, and Marulićevi dani in April. Splitsko ljeto fills public squares with jazz, classical concerts, theatre plays and modern dance, often using historic venues like Diocletian’s Palace. Marulićevi dani celebrates Croatian playwriting with readings, awards and performances centred on Marko Marulić’s 15th-century work Judita.