"Kaštelanska Riviera" a Kastela Travel Page by diocletianvs

If you ever take a plane to Split, you will actually land in Kastela and pass them on your way to central Split. The image from the road is of quite an ugly place - hundreds of ugly, unfinished houses dotted on both sides of the road, followed by some scenes of post-industrial landscape of abandoned factories and dirty brownfields.

But don't let this put you off from visiting this place that was once promising to become one of the best "Rivieras" of Dalmatia. This dream of 1920s and 1930s soon ended when Yugoslav decision makers decided to make Split one of the most powerful industrial centres of the country. Smart as they were, decision makers of Split located their huge industrial zone on their back side which happened to be the only side of Kastela - along the Bay of Kastela.

Heavy industry is now a thing of the past, and Kastela are discovering and reinterpreting their past once again. The name comes from the local word for Castles - Kaštel - and there are seven different settlements along the bay on a long strip between Split and Trogir.

Kastel Luksic was once the dividing line between the lands that belonged to noblemen of Split and those that belonged to Trogir families. Starting from the Middle Ages all through the Renaissance and Baroque those families built a series of castles and palaces that gave names to seven Kastelas and are the main element of local cultural heritage.

The dividing line of Kastel Luksic also roughly divides the Upper Kastelas (Sucurac, Gomilica and Kambelovac) from the Lower Kastelas (Luksic, Novi, Stari and Stafilic). While the former still retain their post-industrial landscape the latter are better known for their beaches, sea promenades, hotels and pensions.

The area is definitely worth a visit if you are in the wider area of Split.