Award-winning dining meets beverage wizardry during Virgin Voyages' Eat & Drink Festival coming this July to all lady ships.
07.03.2024 - 08:19 / lonelyplanet.com
One of Istria’s most celebrated monuments is the Arena, the magnificent 1st century Roman amphitheater that’s a symbol of Pula, the peninsula’s biggest city. The sea-facing amphitheater is also an icon of ancient Rome, and the grandest and best-preserved example of how the Romans left their mark on Istria forever.
But there are plenty more astonishing Roman-era monuments to explore in Pula, as well as in the city of Poreč and on the nearby Brijuni Islands. Spend time in Istria and you’re bound to come across vestiges of its Roman past in the many ancient relics and architectural testaments that have stood here for millennia.
Istria was under the rule of the Roman Empire for centuries, followed by a series of Italian and German kingdoms before the Venetian Republic took hold from 1331 to 1797. The peninsula then fell under the reign of the Austrian Habsburgs (1797–1805) and Napoleon for a short time (1805–1814), before going back to Austro-Hungarian rule for 105 years. Between the two World Wars, borders were redrawn and Istria became part of Italy before finally falling under Yugoslavia in 1947. Since the break up of Yugoslavia in 1991, Istria is one of Croatia’s 20 counties.
Of all these various kingdoms, republics and empires, the Romans governed Istria the longest – for over 650 years – from 177 BCE to the downfall of their empire in 476 CE. During this period, the Romans had plenty of time to leave their mark. They built tidy cities lined with grids of stone-paved streets along with grandiose buildings and villas, and they planted vast olive groves. They also constructed memorial arches, majestic temples and open-air theaters.
The city of Pula has the largest number of remaining ancient Roman relics in Istria. Made entirely of limestone, the iconic Arena dates back to the 1st century and is one of only four remaining Roman amphitheaters in the world still in use today
The best way to experience the Arena’s special atmosphere is during the annual Pula Film Festival or at a big-ticket summer concert, when you can sit under the stars among its ancient stones and imagine rubbing elbows with the 20,000 Roman spectators who once watched gladiators battle here.
On Trg Portarata stands the Arch of the Sergii, a triumphal arch built in 27 BCE that was once one of the city’s 12 gates. It opens onto a cobblestone lane leading through a clutch of narrow pedestrian streets. Look for the sign pointing the way to the well-preserved 3rd century Roman floor mosaics, which were once the exquisite floors of a Roman villa.
At the heart of Roman "Pola" was the Forum, a vast square dominated by the pillared Temple of Augustus, constructed sometime between 2 BCE and 14 CE. Pause at one of the many cafes to take in the
Award-winning dining meets beverage wizardry during Virgin Voyages' Eat & Drink Festival coming this July to all lady ships.
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