August 15, 2020 - On August 17, 2020, the Croatian Post will launch a new commemorative postage stamp for the 200th anniversary of the Split Archaeological Museum.

Dalmacija Danas reports that the motif on the stamps is the sarcophagus of the good shepherd, which originates from Solin, from the 4th century. The author of the stamp is Duje Segvic, a designer from Split. The value of the stamp is marked with the letter "A", which corresponds to the amount of postage for a letter weighing up to 50 g in domestic traffic and for a postcard in domestic traffic.

The stamp was printed in a circulation of 100,000 copies and was issued in a sheet of 20 stamps. The Croatian Post also issued a First Day Cover (FDC). The first-day stamp will be in use on August 17 and 18, 2020, at a separate philately counter at the 10000 Zagreb Post Office.

The Archaeological Museum in Split was founded on August 22, 1820. This is a significant date not only for Croatian archeology and all Croatian museums, but also for the city of Split, the entire region, and the Republic of Croatia. At the same time, the Archaeological Museum in Split is the oldest museum institution in Southeast Europe. 

The museum building, however, was not immediately located at the present site. Instead, until 1868, the building was located at the east wall of Diocletian's Palace, of which nothing has been preserved today. Today's museum building was built just before the First World War.

In March 1912, construction began on a new museum designed by Viennese architects August Kirstein and Friedrich Ohmann, which lasted until June 1914. Thus, the building of the Split Archaeological Museum, along with the building of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb from 1888 and partly the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts from 1880, became the oldest purpose-built building, i.e., built exclusively for a museum in Croatia.

The new building has a large exhibition hall for smaller objects, a garden with a lapidary was intended for stone monuments, while in the basement there were depots. The available space met the needs of the museum until the 1960s when there were thoughts of expanding it by building a new building in the back garden.

Until 1910, when the Ethnographic Museum was founded, there was no other museum-gallery institution in Split than the Archaeological Museum. Thus, it collected the testimonies of Croatia's past that would not otherwise belong to it in terms of subject matter, with the care of its directors who were interested not only in archeology but also in history, old and rare books, maps, archives, and works of art.

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January 24, 2020 - Museum Night will be held across Croatia on January 31, 2020. A look at the program in Split. 

This year, the fifteenth Museum Night will be held, an event that began in 2005 with several Zagreb museums, which over the past few years has become the most significant event in Croatian museums. 

Museums have built this event with their programs, an audience that has supported it year after year, the general public, the media and partners. Based on numerous surveys of visitors to Croatian museums and quality records of visits to museums and other heritage institutions, it can be said that more than 5,000,000 visitors have frequented Croatian museums over the past 15 years during the event. One of the most significant achievements of the event is promoting the museums themselves and creating a new audience, as many visitors discover the museums and later became part of the permanent audience.

This year, Museum Night is commemorating two major anniversaries: the 200th anniversary of the Split Archeological Museum, founded in 1820, and the 140th anniversary of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb, founded in 1880.

Furthermore, in 2020, it will be 184 years since the founding of the National Museum, the 152nd since the founding of the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters, and 142 years since the founding of the Museum of Natural History. 

Thus, the theme of Museum Night 2020 will be an opportunity for Croatian museums to once again remind the general public about the importance of 'museum history, present and future'. Communicating various content to the public - from museum collections, professional, scientific, educational and entertaining content to virtual tours of museum exhibits, historical buildings and protected heritage sites, and digital technologies have opened up unprecedented possibilities for presenting the museums. 

These two significant anniversaries - the Split Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb - provide an incentive for museums to update the following topics, which are worth talking about more broadly and point to numerous programs at Croatian Museums and Heritage Institutions on Museum Night 2020:

- The relevance of the museum in contemporary society and future development

- Museum greats and personalities who are in charge of Croatian culture

- Museums as places for meeting and acquiring new knowledge

- Relationship between museums and local communities

- The influence of museums in creating positive public change

- Museums and cultural and creative industries

- Museums and sustainable development of cultural tourism

- Museum architecture and infrastructure

- New museums, new technologies and new audiences

Museums can also be defined as:

- learning centers

- centers of economic influence

- key partners in travel and tourism

- bearers of cultural renewal - (urban, social and economic regeneration)

- community gathering centers of all social classes

- centers of research, innovation, application of new knowledge and technologies

- centers of motivation for creativity

- Supporters of social change and intercultural understanding

- centers of friendship development and international cooperation

On the 15th Museum Night, let's confirm that Croatian museums have the knowledge, power, potential and audience that loves them.

In Split, guests can visit:

Archaeological Museum 

Ethnographic Museum

Meštrović Gallery

Croatian Maritime Museum

Brodosplit Museum

Split City Museum

Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments

Natural Museum and Zoo

Prokultura - House of Language and Culture Peristyle

School of Fine Arts - Gallery School

Art Academy

Mosor Star Village - Science, Culture, Art

The Croatian Museum Society has organized the Museum Night in Croatia since 2005. The author of the concept and the project manager are Vesna Jurić Bulatović and Dubravka Osrecki Jakelic, who decided to launch it as a city pilot project back in December 2005 with six Zagreb museums. Since 2007, Museum Night has grown into a national event involving more and more museums and cities each year.

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Did you know that the Split Museum Night will be held in 25 locations on Friday?

There's a new museum in Split, and it's here to activate all of your senses. 

After listening to the needs and wishes of their visitors about what a substantial museum experience of artistic heritage should present, the Meštrović Gallery has introduced a new free guide to their permanent exhibition - Smart Guide.

One thing we all know for sure: Split is rich, and we mean rich in history. It’s no surprise to anyone booking their next holiday to Split that one of the crucially enticing things about Split is the 4th century AD palace you’ll find yourselves walking through. Nearly every corner you turn you’ll see traces of heavily influenced Roman era architecture and you’ll instantly feel that you’ve been transported back into a very different time. Hell, Game of Thrones used Diocletian’s Palace for the filming of Season 4! That being said, with a history so rich and unique, Split has a lot of museums. From ancient to modern art, sculptors to painters, here are a list of some of the best museums to frequent in Split.

Probably one of the most popular museums in Split is the Meštrović‡ Gallery. Ivan Meštrović‡, Croatia’s most renowned sculptor, displays his work through a neo-classical villa he built by himself back in 1931. There you will find sculltures large and small, paintings, and you will follow the story of a man coming to fruition in Yugoslavia. Meštrović‡ draws influences from classical, folk, and modernist times and his work is pertininent to the history of Split. You can visit his gallery at Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 46.

The Gallery of Fine Arts (or known better to Croatians at Galerija Umjetnina) contains works from the 14th century to present day, giving gallery goers a glimpse of the evolution art has taken in the city of Split. The gallery's permanent collection include more than 3,500 works of art throughout this period of time, and include works by Croatian artists as well as artists from former Yugoslavia, Italy, Germany, Austria, France and the Czech Republic. Umjetnina also has one of the largest collections of Icons in Croatia, with works dating from the 15th to 19th century on display. Nineteenth century and modern art, as well as contemporary art are displayed as well. This gallery is located at Kralja Tomislava 15.

The Archeological Museum is the oldest amongst museums in Split, founded in 1820. Arranged over 3 floors, the Archeological Museum houses a prehistoric section of ceramics and weaponry on the top, a Roman and Liburnian second floor, and the Middle Ages on the ground floor. Some key historical finds from this museum are from the nearby Roman capital of Salona, containing mosaics, sarcophagi, potteries, and ancient coins. You can find the museum located conveniently next to the National Theatre on Zrinsko-Frankopanska 25.

Other museums worth checking out are the Split City Museum, the Split Maritime Museum, and the Split Ethnographic Museum to see the rich history of Croatian folklore costumes, jewelers, and traditional handicrafts.

Go and get smarter, these museums are waiting for you!