I really love to reveal Split's hidden gems to non-locals (and some locals, too). It might be pretty obvious to this blog's readers, with several already published here with this topic, the most recent one about Sigmund Freud's brief visit to town.

One of those is probably the oldest postal box in Split, barely visible on a little square next to the main city Piazza. It's not in use anymore, and is partly hidden with tables of a nearby bar, but I remember how excited some French people were when I showed it to them few years ago. Why particularly French are delighted with this spot? Well, it's simple: it was made by French, and consequently there is an inscription saying Boite aux lettres on it.

The box is one of the few remains from the Napoleon Bonaparte's rule in Dalmatia that lasted only eight years, from 1805 to 1813, but left incredible mark in this region's history. When talking about French rule, of course they were occupying force, like so many others in history. However, it's amazing how much was done in those few years to bring Dalmatia closer to the western civilization. Post-revolutionary French invaders abolished Jewish ghettos and slavery which still existed in some rural areas. They opened public schools for boys and girls, built hundreds of kilometres of roads, started some of the first heritage revitalization projects in Split, launched the first newspapers in Croatian language, built promenades in Split and Trogir, brought down Venetian walls around towns to allow their expansion, built first public parks and street lightning, and many, many other things. Who can than blame Split to name one of its main streets after Napoleon's friend and governor of Dalmatia Marechal Marmont? By today's standard he was far from being ideal, but for his merits it's easy to count him as one of the most important people in Dalmatian history.

And that still stands no matter that ordinary people were not completely happy with the rule of French, mostly because of high taxes. Also, church lost a lot of its properties, and even more of its influence on political life, and that's why some of the fiercest rebellions against French were led by local clergy. To learn more, check here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illyrian_Provinces.

The story about our boite aux lettres is also connected with a wave of reforms conducted by French. French built comprehensive road network which still exists, as more recent roads were built on same routes. In the same time they completely modernized postal service. The oldest document found in the archives about establishing a postal service dates back in 1806, when French arrived in Dalmatia, meaning that this year we are celebrating 210 years of the modern postal services in Dalmatia. Before them it was unthinkable the one could drop a letter in postal boxes as we know them today, and be sure that it will get where it was sent. This box behind the old city hall was just one of those existing in those years. It's unknown for how long it was in use, but it's nice to have it still standing there.