Pula - Pula visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Pula' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Istra.

Pula is the largest city on the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia, and is found at the southern end of the peninsula. Pula has a strong reputation for winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism, and has been the administrative center of Istria since Roman times.

Most visitors come to Pula to see the ancient sites, first most of which is the ancient Arena, which is the sixth largest amphitheatre in the world. The city also contains the Arch of the Sergii, a 1st century triumphal arch, and the temple of Rome and Augustus. Until the 19C Pula was surrounded by walls. Little remains of these except parts of the walls and the Twin Gates (Porta Gemina) and Gate of Hercules which also date from the 1C and 2C. Lastly from Roman times are two theatres.

In the following centuries a number of important churches were built in Pula. One of the oldest churches is the Byzantine chapel of St. Mary Formosa dates from the 6C, though many of the treasures within the church were moved to St Mark's Basilica in Venice after they raided Pula in 1605.

Also dating from the 6C is the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built when Pula became a bishopric. It stands over a site where Christians gathered to pray in Roman times. The church was rebuilt in the 15C after being destroyed by the Venetians, though some of the earlier construction still remains.

Around Pula are numerous places of interest like the Quarry in Vinkuran, which is one of the sites of the PUF international theatre festival held in Pula each year.

The church of St. Francis is a late Romanesque church built in 1314 with later Gothic additions. It is attached to a 14C monastery and the cloisters contain some antique Roman artifacts.