What was the price for a slave in medieval Split? How long prostitution was legal? How many witches were killed in Split? How much wine was it regular to drink in Romans’ time?

Every place has the dark side – history is often more brutal than fiction. In hidden Split we may not talk about the ghosts, but another dark aspects of history such as prostitution, witches or slaves.

Prostitution in Split

Once upon a time in Split, prostitution was legal. There were 86 licensed ladies who were obliged to take the exam once a month. But when the ships arrived to the city, another 180 ladies were hired, most of them not from Split. In the 30es of 20^th century, the population of Split was 28 000, and the ratio was 1: 100 (in comparison, in Amsterdam it was 1: 75)

Witches in Split

While in dark ages in Zagreb, today’s capital, 250 witches were burnt, Split was much more liberal city. Although Split wasn’t famous for killing witches, there are some interesting stories to be heard from the dark ages.

Slavery in Split

Diocletian’s palace was built by slaves. Slaves were in Split long after Romans, all until 20^th century. Most of them were kidnapped from inland of Croatia, so they spoke the same language, had the same religion… it wasn’t expensive to have slaves, but you had to pay taxes.

Wine in Split

There is a long tradition of enjoying wine in Split. The plant was brought before Romans. Wine was considered safer than water, since the water could be contaminated. The whole Dalmatia was a huge wineyard, all until phylloxera attacked the plant.