Pula [key], Ital. Pola, city (2011 pop. 57,460), W Croatia, on the Adriatic and at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula. A major seaport and an industrial center, it has shipyards, docks, and varied manufactures. Captured (178 b.c.) by the Romans, it was destroyed by Augustus, but was rebuilt by him and named Pietas Julia. It passed to Venice in 1148, but in 1379 it was taken and destroyed by the Genoese. However, it remained a Venetian possession until the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) transferred it to Austria. Under Austrian rule Pula became the chief naval base and arsenal of the Hapsburg empire. The city was ceded to Italy after World War I and to Croatia, then a constitutent republic of Yugoslavia, after World War II. Pula has many well-preserved Roman ruins, notably a large amphitheater, the Porta Aurea (a triumphal arch of the 1st cent. b.c.), and the temple of Augustus and Roma (1st cent. a.d.).
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