Wender·Vista
Split
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCroatia
on the Dalmatian coast, between the Mosor mountains and the Adriatic

Split

— — a Roman palace the city kept living in.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The old city of Split is a Roman palace people never moved out of. Diocletian built his retirement palace here around 305 AD; sixteen centuries later, laundry still hangs from windows cut into the original walls. Cafés open onto the peristyle. The cathedral was once the emperor's mausoleum. There are quiet corners along the Riva where the Adriatic comes right up to the limestone and nobody says much.

from the studio
Split
— bring it home

Split, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Split

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Split is the second-largest city in Croatia and the cultural seat of Dalmatia, on a peninsula between the Mosor range and the Adriatic. The old town is built inside and around Diocletian's Palace, completed around 305 AD for the retiring Roman emperor. After the nearby Roman city of Salona fell in the seventh century, residents took shelter inside the palace walls and never left. The palace and historic core were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. Ferries from the Riva connect the city to Hvar, Brač, and Vis.

— the stone

The palace was built from white limestone quarried on Brač, the same island stone later shipped abroad for the White House and pieces of Diocletian's own residence in Rome. The peristyle, the central courtyard, retains its original columns; the cathedral bell tower, added in the thirteenth century, rises 57 metres above what was once the emperor's tomb. Two black granite sphinxes brought from Egypt around 297 AD still sit in the palace grounds. The stone has gone honey-coloured where centuries of hands have brushed it.

— the visit

The old city is open at all hours; there is no gate to close. The Cathedral of Saint Domnius, the bell tower, and the substructures beneath the palace charge separate admissions, with combined tickets sold at the Peristyle. The shoulder seasons, May and September, hold the warm Adriatic light without the cruise crowds that pack July and August. Split airport sits about 25 kilometres west at Kaštela; ferries from the Riva run year-round to the islands of Hvar, Brač, and Vis, with extra sailings in summer.

— where
Croatia · Split, Split-Dalmatia County
— position
43.5081° N · 16.4402° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
27 km W
Trogir
UNESCO old town
65 km S
Hvar
Adriatic island
15 km S
Brač
limestone island
5 km NE
Salona
Roman ruins
90 km NW
Krka National Park
waterfalls
N
Split
Trogir
Hvar
Brač
Salona
Krka National Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Split — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The Roman emperor Diocletian built it as his retirement residence, completed around 305 AD. After abdicating the throne, he lived in it until his death around 311. It is one of the best-preserved Roman palaces in the world.

When the nearby Roman city of Salona was sacked in the seventh century, refugees moved inside the palace walls for protection and never left. The medieval city of Split grew up inside and around the ruins.

Yes. The historical complex of Split, including Diocletian's Palace and the medieval old town, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 for its preservation of Roman, medieval, and Renaissance layers.

White limestone from the nearby island of Brač, quarried at Pučišća. The same stone has been used in many later landmark buildings and gives the old city its honey-pale colour in late-afternoon light.

May and September. The Adriatic is warm, the light is clean, and the cruise crowds that pack July and August have thinned. October still holds the colour; November turns the city quieter and more local.

Ferries and catamarans leave year-round from the Riva, the seafront promenade. Hvar takes about an hour, Brač about fifty minutes, Vis a little over two hours. Summer schedules add extra sailings.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for many customers with roots in Split or summers on the islands. Locals know the peristyle and the Riva by heart. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note carries well.

The honey limestone and Adriatic blue read well in Mediterranean-modern, warm minimalist, and coastal-modern rooms. The Voynich treatment also holds its own as a single jewel-tone piece in an otherwise neutral wall.

Yes. Mediterranean-modern leans on warm stone tones, soft blues, and a few specific-place anchors over generic seascapes. A Split tile reads as place, not pattern, which is what the style is asking for.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads from across the room. Over a longer sectional or console, a 4-tile Mural sits with more presence; a 9-tile Mural is the show-piece for a tall wall.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and splash do not affect it. Glossy is for dry wall installations.

A microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it, so it will not wear off with handling. Avoid abrasive pads on the glossy finish.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is made in our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, under Reid Wender's eye. No licensing, no third-party prints, no resold imagery.

— if this one stayed with you

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