Arena Pula

You have found an accommodation in Pula, welcoming friendly hosts, enthusiastically leaving your suitcases and going out right away. Where? Of course, there are many sites in Pula worth visiting, but just one is must see - it is the famous Arena amphitheatre in Pula. The Pula Arena dates back to the second half of the 1st century when it was ordered to build by famous Roman imperious Vespasian, the same one responsible for the famous Colosseum in Rome. It is less known that Vespasian devoted Arena to his love Antonia Cenidis Pannonian. The Arena is the most prominent, but also the biggest monument of ancient architecture in this area. It was built in the form of an ellipse, 32 meters tall, with four towers connecting its walls. Although it sometimes wears hanging velvet, a cloth which is protecting it from the bright Istrian sun, there is nothing to hide its beauty and loftiness. The Arena is wearing another less common name - The Divine City (Divic grad). There are several legends related to the creation of that name. The most possible one tells about Slavs who were surprised by the greatness of this building, so they called it a divine. On Old Slavic it meant the miracle. The second legend attributes the art of magic which is not hard to believe once you see Arena, namely, it was built by fairies. But fairies could only built it at night; They brought huge blocks of stone from Ucka mountain, and when the first cock robbed, they dropped the rocks and disappeared. That's why the Arena remained unfinished with a multitude of stone blocks scattered all over the place. Anyway, Arena is now a host of various cultural events. It is difficult to find a better scene for concerts, festivals and performances. It enchanted as many as 20,000 visitors who followed the gladiator battles, thus today over 300,000 people pass through it. There is a museum in the basement of the Arena with many artefacts. The Arena is open to visitors throughout the year, and ticket prices are symbolic: 40 HRK for adults, or 20 HRK for children. Sightseeing takes 30 to 60 minutes, minutes that will move you to the world of Roman emperors and fairies, a child in you does not want to miss it.