Imagine a vibrant city set within the walls of the Coliseum in Rome – cafes, bars and retail shops built under the great arches; hotels and apartment buildings laid out like pieces of a puzzle in the center of the amphitheater; thousands of people weaving through narrow lanes and alleys day and night as they go about their business.

You will never see this scene in Rome. But you can in Split, Croatia. We tend to think of antiquities as objects and places we view. We don’t alter them and we certainly don’t live in them. This was our mindset when we arrived in Split to see Diocletian’s Palace, circa 305 A.D. We were blown away by what we found — Diocletian’s Palace is no dead monument. It’s an alluring mash-up of 17 centuries of history and modern everyday routine.

The Palace is the only monument that has been continuously inhabited since the third century. Three thousand people live there, just as in Roman days. Some properties have been handed down within families generation after generation since the 13th century.

The Roman emperor Diocletian built the palace in 305 AD as his retirement home (downsizing wasn’t yet a trend). He wanted to return to his homeland and also have access to Split’s medicinal sulfur springs since he was in poor health. He had the Palace built in just 11 years, never mind that 2,000 over-worked slaves died in the process.

Here’s how the Palace looked back in the day. The walls were 600 feet long, each with a gate named after a metal (gold, silver, bronze and iron). Diocletian’s living quarters were in the front half facing the beautiful waterfront view and protected by the sea.

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