The Meštrović Gallery is a villa-and-sculpture complex on the slopes of Marjan hill that was designed by Croatia's most famous sculptor, Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), as his summer home and studio in the 1930s and is now a museum displaying his work. Meštrović, who trained in Vienna under Auguste Rodin's circle and later became a professor at Syracuse University, is sometimes called 'the Croatian Rodin' and produced monumental sculpture that shaped Yugoslavia's public art in the interwar period.
The villa's whitewashed walls, arched colonnades, and sculpture garden facing the Adriatic create one of the most atmospheric artist-house museums in Europe — a Mediterranean equivalent of Rodin's Hôtel Biron or Brancusi's studio in Paris. The ticket also includes entry to Kaštilac, a nearby chapel containing Meštrović's cycle of wooden reliefs on the Life of Christ (created during WWII when the sculptor was imprisoned by the Ustaše) — a more intense religious complement to the secular elegance of the main gallery.
Verified Facts
The villa was designed by Meštrović himself in the 1930s
Meštrović became a professor at Syracuse University
The Kaštilac wooden reliefs were created during WWII
Meštrović is sometimes called 'the Croatian Rodin'
Get walking directions
46 Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića, Meje, Split, 21000, Croatia
