Split is Croatia's second-largest city and the largest city in the Dalmatia region, situated on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. The city was originally a Greek colony, and later came under the rule of the Roman Empire. One of the first inhabitants of the settlement was the Emperor Diocletian, who built a palace in 293 AD. During the Middle Ages, Split enjoyed the autonomy of a free city. Split was involved in a long war between Venice and Hungary, and in 1420, Split became a Venetian possession, whose rule ended in 1797. Since then, Split was under Austrian rule until 1918, when it became a part of Yugoslavia. Jews first settled in this area during the Roman Empire's rule. We know that there was a Jewish presence in the city from the 1st to the 3rd centuries. This fact is evidenced by the presence of ancient Jewish graves in the old cemetery of Split. One of the tombstones mentions a Jew, a native of Tiberius, who was buried at that time in Split. The Jewish community, which was mostly comprised of merchants, owned a synagogue, a cemetery, and had its own court. In the Middle Ages, Jews also played a crucial role in the city's commercial activity. In the 16th century, communities of Sephardic Jews who had fled from Spain and Portugal settled in the city. In the mid-17th century, 271 Jews lived in Split. The Jews of the city were actively engaged in banking and international trade, despite facing competition and restrictions imposed by the authorities in Venice. Various limits—such as the obligation to live in the ghetto—were only lifted in 1806 when the city was briefly under French rule. The years of Austrian rule brought prosperity to the city and to the community. The Jews were not only engaged in trade, but also succeeded as doctors, lawyers, and engineers. Among the famous rabbis of Split were members of the Mussafia family, three of whom served as major rabbis in the 19th century. After World War I, 179 Jews lived in the city. As an influx of Jewish refugees arrived in the city in 1940, the Jewish community's population grew to 400 people. During World War II, most of the city's Jews were exterminated in concentration camps, and in 1945, there were only 55 Jews left in Split. Some Jewish children from Split were evacuated to Nonantola, and later to British Mandate Palestine. There is currently a Jewish community in Split of about 100 Jews. In 1573, city authorities granted Mt. Marjan to the Jewish community for use as a cemetery. This Old Cemetery was used by the community for 400 years. In 1942, the Nazis burned the cemetery's archive, including the document from 1573, which originally gave Jews the right to use the cemetery. The graveyard had 700 tombstones, the oldest of which dates to 1717 (or 1861, according to other sources)—the most recent burial dates back to 1945.

Some of the tombstones have inscriptions in Spanish, Italian, Croatian, or Hebrew. There are two types of stones, both in the horizontal Sephardic fashion: one in the shape of a sarcophagus roof and the other in the shape of a flat slab. Both have inscriptions in Hebrew, occasionally in elaborate calligraphy. Two 17th-century tombstones were brought to Split from the islands of Hvar and Brac and feature iconographic decorations. The one from Hvar depicts a dove with an olive branch, and the one from Brac depicts an angel climbing a ladder to the sky with the inscription: "This friend has mounted/Into angelic heights/To take a rest in the garden of Eden/In the Grove of Salvation." There is a cemetery chapel that is now used as a coffeehouse. In 2014, some graves in the cemetery were seriously vandalized. The Old Jewish cemetery in Split is a unique monument to one of the oldest cemeteries in this part of Europe. In 1966, this cemetery was included in the state list of national heritage.