Viator Exclusive: Memorable Underground Odyssey Inside a Roman Aqueduct

You will be picked up at your hotel in Split (up to 3 guests - by car, up to 6 guests - by minivan) and after a short drive through the suburbs of Split you will reach the entrance of the Diocletian's Aqueduct. An expert spelunker will assist our underground odyssey. You will dress up for descent (helmet with light, fishing boots and protective suits – mono use); that's why you must provide us with the information on your shoes sizes upon booking a tour.

We will descend some 15 meters below the street level through an original roman shaft that was used for an incredible period of 17 centuries for this same purpose - reaching the insides of the aqueduct.

First we will visit the part of the aqueduct that is the most complex and the most astonishing of this 10 km long roman aqueduct - it is the part carved in stone, the most expensive and the most difficult to build. The water is still running in it so you will get an inevitable feeling of strolling inside the riverbed of the underground river while at points you'll get a sensation of dwelling in a cave, not in an aqueduct. We will walk for some 500 meters underground.

The interpretation of what will develop in front of your eyes will be done by Natalija Princi, an Italo-Croatian writer, published author and independent researcher as well as a tour guide for Split and Dalmatian Hinterland. So, besides the astonishing technical details concerning roman aqueducts we will talk about mysticism of the dark and soundproof spaces as caves and underground aqueducts happen to be. We will try to understand what Dante meant in the first lines of his Divina Commedia when he wrote:

Midway upon the journey of our life

I found myself within a forest dark

For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Sometimes in life it is salutary to lose the straightforward path. That's why on our underground journey you will join the course of water still flowing in a specus so finely crafted by the best roman masons of the 3rd century.

After we go up we will continue by car in order to see the part of the aqueduct raised on arches in the zone called Mostine. That part is quite impressive and among the best preserved roman aqueducts elevated on arches.

After our visit you will be accompanied to your hotel in Split.