So here’s the history:
Remains have been found from the 5th century BC, but Pula
is famous for it’s Roman remains. A Roman settlement was founded here in 44BC
and it swiftly grew to become the administrative centre of Roman Istria. Many
fine public buildings were built at this time. Construction of the amphitheatre
started in the reign of Emperor Claudius (AD 41-56) and completed about AD80.
In the 5th century AD, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Pula was
briefly occupied by the Goths and in the 8th century became part of the
Frankish Empire. Struggles with Venice during the 12th. And 13th centuries
finally led to Venetian control in 1331 and this lasted until 1797. After the
fall of the Venetian Empire, Pula came until Austrian rule. It became a magro
dockyard, expanding until 1910 and experiencing increasing prosperity. Pula’s
importance declined between the two world wars, when it governed by Italy. It
became part of Yugoslavia in 1947.
There’s an excellent indoor fish and meat market in Pula, with an outdoor fruit and vegetable market next door. We were there early this morning, so had the pick on the fresh fish.
The weather forecast was for thundery rain at some point during the day, but it didn’t appear in the morning and still didn’t look likely for the early afternoon, so we walked just a short distance down the street to the Roman amphitheatre. It is the sixth largest amphitheatre, but distinguishes itself by having four towers, and is also the best preserved. It was built into the slope in the land. At its peak, it seated 23,000. Spectators did not have to pay to go in, but there was a hierarchy in the seating plan. We got a sense of the spectacle, when we sat in the seating area for a while. Nowadays it hosts concerts and theatre. It must be superb to watch such an event in this fabulous arena, never mind perform there.
Darkness fell and we sat on the foredeck after supper, watching the light show from the incoming thunder and lightening, against the backdrop of the multicoloured cranes. Ice cream called and we just had time to nip across the road to buy our desert, before the heavens opened and we got the forecasted heavy rain plus spectacular lightning.
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| The lightning was awe inspiring |
It was about now that we saw the news that our queen had died. It wasn’t a complete shock, having been following the news all afternoon, but I nevertheless feel very sad. She had been an absolute constant in our lives. Her work ethic and devotion to duty have been a roll model for everyone. She has been the mother and grandmother of the nation.
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Miles 2022 – 1148
Tricia (and Steve)
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