An institution instead of a state
Where there is no state, cultural institutions are built to do its work.
ElaRas69 โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Dennis G. Jarvis โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Dennis G. Jarvis โ CC BY-SA 2.0 ยท Dennis G. Jarvis โ CC BY-SA 2.0
An early twentieth-century cultural building west of Split's old town, built as a centre for Croatian cultural societies. The context is political: in the late Austro-Hungarian period Dalmatia was contested between an Italian and a Croatian current over the identity of the coastal towns and the language of their administration and schools. Croatian Homes were built in that context as spaces for societies, theatre, reading and singing in Croatian โ and were in themselves a political statement. This is a familiar European pattern: where there is no state, cultural institutions are built to do its work. The building today is a working theatre and performance hall, hosting plays, concerts and events. A practical point: this is not a museum. Visiting means attending a performance โ check the programme before planning, as outside performances there is nothing to visit inside. The facade is free to see from the street.
Where there is no state, cultural institutions are built to do its work.
Dalmatia was contested between an Italian and a Croatian current.
Plays, concerts and events โ check the programme.
West of the old town, Split
In the nineteenth century Dalmatia was under Austrian rule, and administration, education and public life in its coastal towns were conducted in Italian while the population majority spoke Croatian. A political struggle grew over which language would be used in municipal councils and schools. The Croatian current gradually won most municipalities in the 1870s and 1880s. It was not a military conflict but a battle over institutions, and the cultural homes were part of it.
The Croatian National Theatre in Split is nearby, a far finer building with a broader programme โ opera, ballet and drama. Or the Archaeological Museum in Split, the oldest museum in Croatia, whose Roman collection from Salona is exceptional. Both are within walking distance.
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