The Sphinxes of Peristil: How Diocletian's Obsession With Egypt Reached Split

Walk across Peristil Square and take a seat on Lvxor's terrace, and it's hard to miss the gray, weathered guardian resting right beside our entrance — a granite sphinx brought here from the ancient Egyptian city of Luxor. It's where our name comes from.

In 305 AD, Emperor Diocletian, nearing the end of his reign, ordered sphinxes shipped from Egypt to his new palace in Split — trophies of power and symbols of divine rule that pharaohs once placed before their temples. Of the roughly dozen sphinxes originally on Peristil, only one remains in its original spot today; the rest are scattered across the city and its museums.

What's most striking is the statue's age: the sphinx that now "guards" Lvxor's entrance was carved long before Diocletian, during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III — nearly 3,500 years ago. That makes it one of the oldest works of art still standing in the open air anywhere in Europe.

Sitting at our table, you're literally surrounded by three millennia of history — from Egyptian pharaohs, to a Roman emperor, to the Renaissance builders who shaped the space into what it is today. If you'd like the full story of the layers of history Lvxor stands on, read more on our About page.