Awhile back, I posted pictures from our trip to Venice. In order to get to Venice, we traveled to Pula, Croatia, and it was from there that we took a ferry across the Adriatic Sea. Pula is known to be the oldest town on the Eastern Adriatic coast. At about 40 BC Pula became a Roman colony. Around 1331, the Venetians took over Pula. Between the 13th and 14th centuries there was a plague and more destruction suffered during wars. The city rapidly declined. During the 15th century it still had a population of 5,000, but by the following century it had declined to a mere 1,000. The Venetians carried away everything they could from the city - marble columns, tiles, mosaics. Pula came to be known as the "city of corpses" or the "city of the dead." It was probably while in this state that Dante came to know it and mentioned it (Pola) in his "Divine Comedy." For 3 centuries the death rate was higher than the birth rate. By 1631, Pula only had 300 inhabitants.
Pula is now famous for its Roman Arena, dating from the period of Augustus
(31BC -14AD) and it is the sixth largest remaining amphitheatre in the world. It is remarkably well-preserved and in better condition than the one in Verona. I have read that it is said to be the most magnificent structure of its kind in the world, after the Coliseum in Rome.
The Temple of Augustus stands on what is now the Republic Square. It was dedicated to Emperor Augustus and was built between the year 2 BC and the death of Augustus in AD 14.
The Triumphal Arch of the Sergii was built between 29 and 27 BC in honor of the three Sergii (Sergius Lepidus, Gaius Lucius Sergius and Gneius Sergius) who held high military and civil offices in the Empire. When the city gates were demolished in 1826 and 1829, the arch remained standing alone. It is only decorated on the city side.
Pula is a colorful city.... a beautiful part of the Istrian coast of Croatia.
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