“Freelance” porters from Split

The central part of Split with its main port teems with citizens and tourists throughout the whole year. Faithful assistance, of mostly luggage carriers (porters) with wheels (Croatian: kariola), was available to them from the oldest times. But, luggage carriers were not the only one to proudly carry the title ‘porter’. Others also offered a well-known service of height and weight measuring, for a symbolic compensation of 1-2 kn. These people used to be in several locations in Split, however, this is not the case now since they can only be found on one location and this by the Iron Gate on the west side of Diocletian’s palace. Additionally, tourists always found interesting to see shoe cleaners on Riva in Split, who like porters, are scarcely or no longer even seen. Yet, some local porters (luggage carriers) still preserve this tradition contributing thus to the lively picture of the city core. Hopefully, they would have plenty of work in future, in the port and a bus station.

D. Šabić