Since ancient times the 34m hill at the centre of Pula's old town has been fortified. The current star-shaped fortress was built by the Venetians in the 1630s. It's now a moody backdrop to exhibitions on an eclectic range of historic themes (the antifascist struggle and a local boxing club at the time of research), but it's worth visiting for the views alone. Hidden around the back of the castle are the ruins of a small ancient Roman theatre.
Istria Historical & Maritime Museum
Pula
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
27.65 MILES
Top billing in Poreč goes to the 6th-century Euphrasian Basilica, a World Heritage Site and one of Europe’s finest intact examples of Byzantine art. Built…
0.3 MILES
Pula’s most famous and imposing sight is this 1st-century oval amphitheatre, overlooking the harbour northeast of the old town. It's a huge and truly…
0.18 MILES
Fronted by a high porch supported by six Corinthian columns, this small but perfectly proportioned temple was built sometime between 2 BC and AD 14. It…
23.39 MILES
One of Kvarner’s most remote and beautiful beaches, this secluded cove is accessed by following a steep path through the scrub. The 45-minute descent is a…
18.08 MILES
Built from 1725 to 1736, this imposing structure – the largest baroque church in Istria – dominates Rovinj from its hilltop location in the middle of the…
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29.79 MILES
An archetypal Adriatic beach – secluded, wonderfully quiet and strewn with pebbles – 130m below the pretty village of Beli.
6.24 MILES
This handsome neobaroque church was completed in 1800 but commenced 40 years earlier, when Venice was still the style-setter for Istria. With its 63m-high…
25.89 MILES
Looming over the chasm, Pazin’s castle is the largest and best-preserved medieval structure in all of Istria. First mentioned in AD 983, the castle has…
Nearby Pula attractions
1. St Francis' Monastery & Church
0.1 MILES
Built in 1285, Pula's Franciscan monastery has an extraordinary 15th-century gilded altarpiece behind the altar of its cavernous church – but that's not…
2. Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
0.11 MILES
Founded in the 4th century and added to until the 15th, Pula's cathedral still has fragments of 5th- and 6th-century mosaics in its floor. The main altar…
0.13 MILES
This underground system of tunnels was built before and during WWI to shelter the city's population and serve as storage for ammunition. Now you can walk…
0.15 MILES
Also known as the Golden Gate (Zlatna vrata), this majestic arch was erected around 27 BC to commemorate three brothers from the Sergius family who fought…
0.15 MILES
One of the intriguing things about Pula is the way that Roman relics pop up in the most unlikely of places. This remarkably well-preserved 3rd-century…
6. Istria Museum of Contemporary Art
0.16 MILES
The suitably dishevelled, cavernous confines of an 1862 printing house are a fitting environment for this edgy gallery.
0.18 MILES
Fronted by a high porch supported by six Corinthian columns, this small but perfectly proportioned temple was built sometime between 2 BC and AD 14. It…
0.19 MILES
Officially known as the 'National Liberation Resistance Fighters & Fascist Terror Victims in Istria Memorial', this monument honours the many thousands of…