Pula Citadel — Attraction in Grad Pula

Our final stop was the Venetian Fortress, built in the 17th century and commanding the town and harbour. There was a great exhibition inside showing how the whole area around Pula was fortified between 1813 and 1918 with 200 forts, towers and defensive buildings as well as three lines of defence that included trenches, minefields and wire. Probably because of this the town was not seriously threatened in WW1 but as the Austrians were on the losing side they had to give it up anyway. The coastline is still littered with these forts, some of which are as impressive as those of Verdun. The living conditions for the soldiers in these forts was pretty dire with dirt floors, intermittent lighting, poor air and bad sanitation.

There was also an apothecary exhibition, showing the medicines at the turn of the 20th century and the process involved in creating them. The fort itself was a classic star fort design with a deep moat all round. The views were as impressive as you'd expect and there was also the entrance to the underground tunnels, both those of the early 20th century fort and the excavations to be used as air raid shelters built up until WW2. The tunnels could hold almost 50,000 people if needed, the entire population...

Staying in Pula for a week, my first visit to the citadel was an evening walk around the exterior. A steep walk up, with some uneven steps involved but worth it for the excellent views out across the town and the Harbour. This also gave good views of the smaller Roman theater (access was otherwise limited to this for some show preparations during my stay) Return visit to the interior later in the week was equally fascinating and filled in a lot of historical detail. Not just of the citadel but of the area surrounding it. Make sure you go up the central observation tower to enjoy one of the highest vantage points over the town. And for those seeking refuge from the summer heat a visit to the tunnel system underneath (included in the cost of admission to the...

The Venetian fortress in Pula was built on the most important strategic place in the Bay of Pula, on a hill where the Histri had previously located their hillfort.

The fort was designed and led to construction for the Venetian Republic by the French military engineer Antoine De Ville between 1631 and 1633.

It was part of the defense system of Pula in the XVII. century, which still included the fortress on the island of Sv. Andrew and two defensive belts (embankments): the first approximately along the route of today's Castropole Street, and the second along the perimeter of the ancient and medieval walls that were reconstructed and embanked to adapt to the then war tactics of defense and...