About Pula

Population - 57460

Pula was founded almost three thousand years ago when, according to legend, the son of the King of Colchis and his men chased Jason and the Argonauts who had stolen their famous golden fleece. When the king’s son was killed, his men were too frightened to return home and so founded Pula. In the 3rd century BC there was a well-developed trade with the Greeks which has been proven by archaeological finds. The Roman conquest of the Istrian Peninsula gave special importance to Pula. Roman authority was established after 177 BC. In the 2nd half of the first century BC, Pula became a military stronghold. Pula continued, during these times, to conform to traditional Roman city or urban ideas. The large amphitheater was built in the 1st Century. It is the 6th largest preserved amphitheater in the world and could accommodate 20,000 spectators. Christian churches started to appear as early as the 4th Century and the cathedral of Saint Mary was built in the 5th Century. Pula remained an important Roman port until the close of the 5th Century. But in the 6th Century, the city came under Byzantine rule. Towards the end of the 8th Century there came a period of Frankish rule. Then in the middle ages it came under the control of Venice. Because of various conflicts, Pula suffered a period of unrest under Venetian rule. In 1379 the Venetian fleet was defeated and Genoa captured the city, plundered and destroyed it. The region suffered from the loss of its population and was affected by plague and much of the classical architecture of the city was ruined. A new fort and several fortifications were constructed in the 17th Century when the Venetians had re-established rule. After the fall of Venice in 1797 Pula fell to the Austrian empire and became, after 1866, the main base of the Austrian Imperial Navy