More recognition for one of Croatia's most popular city destinations, as The Daily Telegraph includes Pula in its 20 places to visit on January 1, 2017.
It does not perhaps attract as many international column inches as the more fashionable destinations of Split and Dubrovnik to the south in Dalmatia, nor have as many overnight stays as Rovinj to the north, and less is written about it in winter than the trendy Advent in Zagreb in the capital, but slowly - and very surely - the Istrian city of Pula is becoming a major force on the Croatian tourism scene.
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From its spectacular heritage include the world's largest Roman Ampitheatre (where you can watch gladiator fights in the summer, as well as live concerts from world class acts) to its innovative use of technology (no better example than the Lighting Giants (above, and see video below) and outstanding international festivals, Pula in recent years has become one of the most innovative and enticing destinations on the Adriatic, a fact recognised by The Daily Telegraph this week in its annual list of the top 20 places to visit in 2017. Here is what they had to say:
"14. Pula, Croatia
There was a moment as my wife and I wandered along the underground passages of the Roman amphitheatre in Pula that we imagined we could feel the breath of the lions that used to be confined here, licking their lips at the prospect of the human flesh feast that lay ahead.
Back above ground level, we completed a circumference of the amphitheatre, the sixth largest in the Roman Empire, one of the best preserved in the world and the prime draw in the lively city at the southern tip of the Croatian province of Istria to which British Airways this year will be introducing direct flights.
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Although it does have a rocky shoreline from which you can dive into the inviting waters of the Adriatic, Pula is not somewhere you would go for a beach holiday – for that, try resorts such as Rovinj, Porec and (dipping into Slovenia) the Venetian-era Piran. Instead, it is a place to immerse yourself in Roman and Habsburg splendours by day and night (in warmer months the amphitheatre is the venue for concerts), and to begin an exploration of Istria’s Tuscan-like gastronomical and vinicultural offerings."
Want to learn more about Pula? Here are 25 things to know.
