Cultural sights
Showing: 1 - 15 out of 17
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Amphitheatre
Pula
The most famous and important monument, the starting and ending point of every sightseeing tour is the Amphitheatre, popularly called the Arena of Pula, which was once the site of gladiator fights. It was built in the 1st century AD during the reign of Emperor Vespasian, at the same time as the magnificent Colosseum in Rome.
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Austrian architecture
Pula
After the Arsenal was founded in 1856, Pula faced a period of intensive building, marked by the construction of new buildings mostly related to the activities of the main naval port of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy: from the Naval hospital and Naval cemetery to numerous barracks of the Hydrographic Institute, Marine Casino, military and civil buildings, residential buildings for officers and civil servants, as well as residential buildings for workers and lower grade clerks.
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Castle
Pula
From the upper circular street one of the perpendicular paths leads to the top of the central hill of the city where a star-shaped castle with four bastions was built in 1630.
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Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Pula
Within the city, along the main street that from Flavia Street leads to the Forum, stands the Cathedral of Pula. It was built at the site where Christians gathered already in the time of their persecution (until the 4th century).
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Chapel of St. Maria Formosa
Pula
It is one of the two chapels built in the 6th century as part of a large Benedictine abbey demolished in the 16th century. The floor and walls were decorated with mosaics, some of which are now in the Archaeological Museum of Istria.
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Church and Monastery of St. Francis
Pula
On the slope of the hill between the Forum and the upper circular street, lies the monastic complex dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, built in the 14th century at the site of a previous cultic edifice.
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Communal Palace
Pula
At the time when Pula was a free municipality, a palace was erected in the Forum – the seat of the municipal self-government. During the Venetian rule it was the seat of the duke and provveditore, and until the present has remained the seat of the mayor.
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Croatian Defenders House
Pula
Navy casino intended for entertainment of the Austrian officers and their families was built in 1872 and designed by Vienna architect L. Baumann while the representative palace was expanded only 40 years later.
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Floor mosaic 'The Punishment of Dirce'
Pula
After the bombing of World War II remains of Roman houses with mosaics were found under the block of houses around the Chapel of St. Maria Formosa. The most impressive one is surely the floor mosaic with the central field presenting the mythological scene of the ‘Punishment of Dirce’ (Amphion and Zethus are tying Dirce to an enraged bull, since out of envy Dirce had been cruel to their mother Antiope).
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Forum
Pula
The main square of classical and medieval Pula is situated at the foot of the central hill, in the western part of the city close to the sea. The coast where the Forum was constructed in the 1st century BC had to be filled up to gain a larger area. The Forum was the nucleus of city life, its religious, administrative, legislative and commercial centre. On the northern part of the Forum stood two twin temples and a central one dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Today only the Temple of Augustus has been fully preserved while of the second temple only the back wall, built into the Communal Palace in the 13th century, is visible. Ancient remains of the Forum have been found during the construction of new buildings, the latest ones being ‘Agrippina and her time’ (1st century AD).
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Gate of Hercules
Pule
It stands between two, most probably medieval towers, of simple construction built of uncarved stone blocks. At the top of the damaged arch, although hardly recognizable, is a carving of the head of Hercules and his club.
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Naval cemetery
Pula
The Naval cemetery, dating from 1866, is the site where 150,000 soldiers from the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (until 1918) were buried. It is located in the direction of Stoja.
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Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas
Pula
Built in the second half of the 6th century, with a typical Ravenna-like polygonal apse, the church was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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Small Roman Theater
Pula
On the north-eastern slopes of the central hill of the city, below the Castle are the remains of a Roman theatre: in addition to the Amphitheatre, Pula had two other theatres during the Roman period.
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Triumphal Arch of the Sergi – Golden Gate
Pula
The ‘Golden Gate’ was erected between the years 29 and 27 BC by the Sergi family, in honor of three members of the family who held important positions in Pula at that time. This triumphal arch leaned against the city gate Porta Aurea thus called because of its richly ornamented arch or gilded elements. The gate and wall were pulled down in the beginning of the 19th century as a result of the city expansion outside the city walls.
Showing: 1 - 15 out of 17
