This bustling city of 57,200 at the southern tip of Istria is a working port as well as a repository of some of the best Roman ruins in Europe, including a well-preserved amphitheater from the 1st century a.d. that is Pula’s biggest draw. Pula has other vestiges of Roman occupation (the Temple of Augustus, Forum, and Arch of the Sergi) that are worth seeing, too. Note that Pula’s Archaeological Museum is currently closed for renovation and will not reopen before 2016, or maybe even later. Besides its cache of Roman artifacts, Pula’s old town is also home to some elegant buildings dating from its centuries spent under Venetian and Austro-Hungarian rule.
