In the Middle ages there was the Benedictine monastery of Saint Stephen; after it was ruined, a cemetery was erected in 1825. The residents of Split were buried there, except for the Jews. Many family graves and the graves of some eminent people from Split were adorned with artistic monuments and sculptures by some of the important Croatian artists. The Sustipan cemetery was forested with cypresses and pines, surrounded by a high wall and the entrance had an iron gate. After WW2, a new cemetery was built, the authorities decided that people could not be buried at Sustipan any more and Sustipan was less and less taken care of. People, mostly children, stole bronze parts from graves as well as metal letters and fences so they could sell them. The cemetery was unfortunately destroyed in 1959-60 together with its monuments.
Some parts were taken to the new cemetery, Lovrinac, and some of them to the City Museum or the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments. During excavations, the archaeologists discovered the remains of sarcophagi, the remains of the Early Christian three-nave basilica and of the St. Stephen's Benedictine Monastery. What is preserved today on Sustipan is a small church from the 18th century and a Neoclassic patio with a cupola called gloriette.
