The history of the Croatian National Theatre in Split is quite long and complicated. The theater was built as a municipal theater of the city of Split during the reign of Mayor G. Bulat in 1893. The building was designed by local architects. At the time, the theater was one of the largest in Southeast Europe. It could accommodate 1,000 people at a time when the population split of 16 000 people. Initially, the building was used for theatrical productions visiting troupes, mostly Italian, as the 19th century in the city there was no drama troupe.

The first professional theater company appeared in 1920, when the building was reconstructed for the first time, and the theater was renamed the "National Theatre of Dalmatia." In 1928, during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the theater was merged with the National Theatre of Sarajevo and renamed the "National Theatre for the western region." In the same year the authorities disbanded a professional ensemble of actors. However, a group of artists led by Ivo Tizhardovichem formed Theatre Company Split, which continued to put opera and operetta in 1930.

In 1940, the theater experienced a brief period of revival, taking its current name and typing the first opera, ballet and drama troupe. But the revival was short-lived, as the theater was closed again in 1941 during the Italian occupation of World War II, when a part of southern Croatia was included in the military governorship of Dalmatia. At the end of the war theater was restored and its first season opened in September 1945.

Theater works until now. However, in 1970, a fire completely destroyed the theater was. It was restored only in 1980.

Now the Croatian National Theatre shows about 300 performances a year, taking around 120 000 spectators. It takes about 20-40 of opera, ballet and drama productions a year, as well as numerous symphonic concerts. The theater is called "the first theater house in Dalmatia" and "one of the largest and oldest theater buildings in the Mediterranean."

In addition to their regular repertoire, Croatian National Theatre annually holds two long festival: Split Summer Festival and the Days of Marulic.

Summer Festival was founded in 1954 and is the second oldest festival of performing arts in the country. Usually Festival lasts about 30 days from mid-July to mid-August, and includes a huge variety of activities: jazz open-air classical music concerts, art exhibitions, theatrical performances in parks, the show of modern dance and others.

The festival "Days of Marulic" was created in 1991 on the 490 th anniversary of the publication, Judith, one of the most important literary work, which was written in the 16th century M.Marulichem. Week-long festival held in April, where they demonstrated the best achievements of Croatian drama last year.