Editing Pula (section)

== History ==
=== Pre-history ===
Evidence of the presence of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' one million years ago has been found in the cave of Šandalja near Pula.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/jadran.html |title=A short historical overview of Istria and, especially, Pula |first=Jadranka |last=Skorin-Kapov |author-link=Jadranka Skorin-Kapov |work=croatianhistory.net |access-date=13 March 2017 |archive-date=20 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120144114/http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/jadran.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Pottery from the [[Neolithic]] period (6000–2000 BC), indicating [[Colonization|human settlement]], has been found around Pula. In the [[Bronze Age]] (1800–1000 BC), a new type of settlement appeared in Istria, called 'gradine', or hill-top fortifications.<ref name="archeology">{{Cite web |url=http://istrianet.org/istria/archeology/history_bronze.htm |title=Istria in the Bronze Age (1800-1000 B.C.) |work=istrianet.org |access-date=7 April 2012 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130174100/https://istrianet.org/istria/archeology/history_bronze.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Many late Bronze Age bone objects, such as tools for smoothing and drilling, sewing needles, as well as spiral bronze pendants, have been found in the area around Pula.<ref name="Castellieri">{{Cite web |url=http://www.istrianet.org/istria/archeology/castellieri/hillforts-istria-slovenia.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415083613/http://www.istrianet.org/istria/archeology/castellieri/hillforts-istria-slovenia.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2013 |title=Tracking the History of the Hillforts in Istria and Slovenia |work=istrianet.org |access-date=7 April 2012}}</ref> The type of materials found in Bronze Age sites in Istria connects these with sites along the Danube.<ref name="Castellieri"/> The inhabitants of Istria in the Bronze Age are known as Proto Illyrians.<ref name="Castellieri"/>

[[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek pottery]] and a part of a statue of [[Apollo]] have been found, attesting to the presence or influence of [[Culture of Greece|Greek culture]].<ref name="ShortHistory">{{cite web |url=http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/jadran.html |title=A short historical overview of Istria and, especially, Pula |publisher=croatianhistory.net |access-date=6 January 2010 |archive-date=20 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120144114/http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/jadran.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Greek tradition attributed the foundation of ''Polai'' to the [[Colchis|Colchians]], mentioned in the context of the story of [[Jason]] and [[Medea]], who had stolen the [[golden fleece]]. The Colchians, who had chased Jason into the northern Adriatic, were unable to catch him and ended up settling in a place they called ''Polai'', signifying "city of refuge".<ref name="Jason">{{Cite web |url=http://www.istrianet.org/istria/legends/pola_myth.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415014616/http://www.istrianet.org/istria/legends/pola_myth.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2013 |title=Istria on the Internet – Customs – Legends – Pola |work=istrianet.org |access-date=27 January 2010}}</ref>

=== Ancient period ===
[[File:Pola Anfiteatro.jpg|thumb|left|Pula Arena in 1728]]
[[File:Portageminapolacroatia01.jpg|thumb|left|[[Porta Gemina]]]]
In classical antiquity, it was inhabited by the [[Histri]],<ref name="Histri">{{Cite web |url=http://www2.arnes.si/~mkralj/istra-history/ancient.html |title=A HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF ISTRIA |work=www2.arnes.si |access-date=27 January 2010 |archive-date=8 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608065151/http://www2.arnes.si/~mkralj/istra-history/ancient.html |url-status=live }}</ref> a [[Venetic language|Venetic]] or [[List of ancient tribes in Illyria|Illyrian tribe]].
[[Strabo]], [[Pomponius Mela]] and [[Lycophron]] wrote that it was inhabited by [[Colchians]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.2.39 |title=Strabo, Geography, 1.2.39 |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=24 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024102900/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.2.39 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://topostext.org/work/145#2.57 |title=Pomponius Mela, Chorographia, 2.57 |access-date=26 May 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128090544/https://topostext.org/work/145#2.57 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BE%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%B1_%28%CE%9B%CF%85%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%86%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD%29#v1000 |title=Lycophron, Alexandra, 1011 |access-date=26 May 2020 |archive-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608000229/https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%BB%CE%B5%CE%BE%CE%AC%CE%BD%CE%B4%CF%81%CE%B1_%28%CE%9B%CF%85%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%86%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD%29#v1000 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Istria|Istrian peninsula]] was conquered by the Romans in 177 BC,<ref name="Histri"/> starting a period of Romanization. The town was elevated to colonial rank between 46 and 45 BC as the tenth region of the late [[Roman Republic]], under [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name="Histri"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ivelja-Dalmatin|2009|p=10}}</ref> During that time the town grew and had at its zenith a population of about 30,000. It became a significant Roman port with a large surrounding area under its jurisdiction.

During the civil war of 42 BC of the triumvirate of [[Augustus|Octavian]], [[Mark Antony]] and [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Lepidus]] against Caesar's assassins [[Marcus Junius Brutus the Younger|Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]], the town took the side of Cassius, since the town had been founded by [[Quintus Cassius Longinus|Cassius Longinus]], brother of Cassius. After Octavian's victory, the town was demolished. It was soon rebuilt at the request of Octavian's daughter Iulia and was then called ''Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola Pollentia Herculanea''. The colony was part of [[Roman Italy#Augustan organization|Venetia et Histria]], a region of [[Roman Italy]]. Great classical constructions were built of which a few remain.

A great [[amphitheatre]], [[Pula Arena]], was constructed between 27&nbsp;BC and 68&nbsp;AD,<ref name="ReferenceA">{{harvnb|Džin|2009|p=7}}</ref> much of it still standing to this day. The Romans also supplied the city with water and sewage systems. They fortified the city with a wall with ten gates. A few of these gates remain: the triumphal [[Arch of the Sergii]], the Gate of Hercules (in which the names of the founders of the city are engraved), and the Twin Gates. During the reign of the emperor [[Septimius Severus]] the name of the town was changed to "Res Publica Polensis". The town was the site of an execution of two reigning ''[[Caesar (title)|caesares]]'', [[Crispus]] in 326 AD and [[Constantius Gallus]] in 354 AD. In 425 AD the town became the centre of a diocese, attested by the remains of foundations of a few religious buildings.<ref name="Histri"/>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Capilla de Santa María Formosa, Pula, Croacia, 2017-04-16, DD 49.jpg|thumb|right|Chapel of St. Mary Formosa]]
[[File:Church-of-st-nicholas-pula.jpg|thumb|Church of St Nicholas (Sv. Mikula)]]
[[File:Fuerte Kaštel, Pula, Croacia, 2017-04-16, DD 46.jpg|thumb|right|Kaštel Pula]]

After the fall of the [[Western Roman Empire]], the city and region were attacked by the [[Ostrogoths]], Pula being virtually destroyed by [[Odoacer]], a Germanic ''foederati'' general in 476&nbsp;AD.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{harvnb|Ivelja-Dalmatin|2009|p=12}}</ref> The town was ruled by the [[Ostrogoths]] from 493 to 538 AD.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> When their rule ended, Pula came under the rule of the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]] (540–751). During this period Pula prospered and became the major port of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] fleet and an integral part of the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="Arheoloski">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mdc.hr/pula/eng/zbirke/sredvijek/index.htm |title=Arheoloski muzej Istre |work=mdc.hr |access-date=27 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081013234448/http://www.mdc.hr/pula/eng/zbirke/sredvijek/index.htm |archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref> The [[Santa Maria del Canneto (Pula, Croatia)|Basilica of Saint Mary Formosa]] was built in the 6th century.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

From 788 onwards, Pula was ruled by the [[Frankish Empire]] under [[Charlemagne]], with the introduction of the [[Feudalism|feudal system]].<ref name="Arheoloski"/><ref>{{harvnb|Ivelja-Dalmatin|2009|p=13}}</ref><ref name="Museum">{{Cite web |url=http://www.mhas-split.hr/english/exhibitions/CharlemagneThemakingofEurope/tabid/141/AlbumID/496-24/language/hr-HR/Default.aspx |title=Charlemagne – The making of Europe |publisher=The Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments |work=mhas-split.hr |access-date=27 January 2010 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721101721/http://www.mhas-split.hr/english/exhibitions/CharlemagneThemakingofEurope/tabid/141/AlbumID/496-24/language/hr-HR/Default.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Under the Franks it was part of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Kingdom of Italy]]. Pula became the seat of the elective counts of Istria until 1077. The town was taken in 1148 by the Venetians and in 1150 Pula swore allegiance to the [[Republic of Venice]], thus becoming a Venetian possession. For centuries thereafter, the city's fate and fortunes were tied to those of Venetian power. It was conquered by the [[Pisa]]ns in 1192 but soon reconquered by the Venetians.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.zrs-kp.si/zrs/zgodovina/e-middle.html |title=A Historical Outline of Istria |work=zrs-kp.si |access-date=27 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406170148/http://www.zrs-kp.si/zrs/zgodovina/e-middle.html |archive-date=6 April 2009}}</ref>

In 1238 [[Pope Gregory IX]] formed an alliance between Genoa and Venice against the Empire, and consequently against Pisa too. As Pula had sided with the Pisans, the city was sacked by the Venetians in 1243. It was destroyed again in 1267 and again in 1397 when the [[Genoa|Genoese]] defeated the Venetians in a naval battle. Pula then slowly went into decline. This decay was accelerated by the infighting of local families: the ancient Roman Sergi family and the Ionotasi (1258–1271) and the clash between Venice and Genoa for the control of the city and its harbour (late 13th and 14th centuries). In 1291, by the Peace of Treviso, Patriarch Raimondo della Torre gained the city as part of the [[secular realm of the Patriarchate of Aquileia]], only to lose it to Venice in 1331, which then held it until its downfall in 1797.

Pula is quoted by the Italian poet [[Dante Alighieri]], who had visited Pula, in the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'': "Sì come a Pola, presso del Carnaro, ch'Italia chiude e i suoi termini bagna" or "As Pola, along the [[Kvarner Gulf|Quarnero]], that marks the end of Italy and bathes its boundaries".

=== Venetian, Napoleonic and early Habsburg rule ===
The [[Republic of Venice|Venetians]] took over Pula in 1331 and would rule the city until 1797. During the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Pula was attacked and occupied by the Genoese, the Hungarian army and the Habsburgs; several outlying medieval settlements and towns were destroyed. In addition to war, the [[Plague (disease)|plague]], [[malaria]] and [[Typhoid fever|typhoid]] ravaged the city. By the 1750s there were only 3,000 inhabitants left in ancient city, an area now covered with weeds and ivy.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{harvnb|Ivelja-Dalmatin|2009|p=15}}</ref>

With the collapse of the Venetian Republic in 1797 following [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]]'s [[Treaty of Campo Formio]], the city became part of the [[Habsburg monarchy]]. It was invaded again in 1805 after the French had defeated the Austrians. It was included in the [[First French Empire|French Empire]] of Napoleon as part of the [[Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic)|Kingdom of Italy]], then placed directly under the French Empire's [[Illyrian Provinces]].

=== Austrian Littoral province and union with Italy ===

[[File:Vittoriano altare Pola P1000735.jpg|thumb|Altar of the city of Pola at the [[Altare della Patria]] in [[Rome]], Italy. Pola was at the time a so-called "[[Italian irredentism|irredent land"]]]]

In 1813, Pola (with Istria) came back to the [[Austrian Empire]]. Under the [[compromise of 1867]], the town – under the original Italian name, Pola – remained in [[Austria-Hungary]] until the latter's defeat and dissolution in 1918.<ref>Die postalischen Abstempelungen auf den österreichischen Postwertzeichen-Ausgaben 1867, 1883 und 1890, Wilhelm Klein, 1967</ref> Under Austrian rule, Pola regained prosperity. Its large [[Harbor|natural harbour]] became Austria's main naval base and a major shipbuilding centre.<ref name="WILL"/>{{sfn|Cresswell|Atkins|Dunn|2006|p=117}} It was chosen for the base in 1859 by [[Hans Birch Dahlerup]], a Danish admiral in the service of Austria.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> Subsequently, Pola grew from a fading provincial town into an industrial city. The island of Brioni (in Croatian renamed [[Brijuni]]) to the North West of Pola became the summer vacation resort of Austria's [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] [[royal family]]. In World War I, the port was the main base for Austro-Hungarian [[dreadnought]]s and other naval forces of the Empire.<ref name="WILL">''First World War'' – Willmott, H.P., Dorling Kindersley, 2003, Page 186-187</ref> During this period many inhabitants were Italian speaking. The 1910 Austrian census recorded a city population of 58,562 (45.8% Italian speaking; 15.2% Croatian, the rest were mostly German-speaking military).<ref>Kocsis, Károly; Az etnikai konfliktusok történeti-földrajzi háttere a volt Jugoszlávia területén; Teleki László Alapítvány, 1993 {{ISBN|963-04-2855-5}}</ref>

Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Pola and the whole of Istria, except the territory of Castua/[[Kastav]], went to Italy.{{sfn|Cresswell|Atkins|Dunn|2006|p=117}} Pola became the capital of the [[Province of Pola]]. The decline in population after World War I was mainly due to economic difficulties caused by the withdrawal of Austro-Hungarian military and bureaucratic facilities and the dismissal of workers from the shipyard.<ref name="Cser.it">{{cite web |url=http://www.cser.it/sunti_147.htm |title=Summary: Islam in Europe, European Islam |publisher=Cser.it |access-date=11 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306072317/http://www.cser.it/sunti_147.htm |archive-date=6 March 2009}}</ref> Under the [[Italian Fascist]] government of [[Benito Mussolini]], non-Italians, especially Croatian residents who came to Pola under [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] rule, faced stringent political and cultural repression because they had now to integrate themselves into the Kingdom of Italy and learn the Italian language. Many left the city and went back to the newly created [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]. After the collapse of Fascist Italy in 1943, the city was occupied by the German [[Wehrmacht]] and remained a base for U-boats. Consequently, the city was subjected to repeated Allied bombing from 1942 to 1944. In the last phase of the war, Pola saw the arrest, deportation, and execution of people suspected of aiding the Axis, by the partisans who together with the Yugoslav communists killed many soldiers and civilians, in the first episodes of what would have been named, later on, the [[Foibe massacres]].{{citation needed|date=July 2018}}
<gallery widths="150" heights="135">
File:Pula Hotel Riviera 1904.jpg|Pula Riviera in 1904
File:Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl Matrosen.jpg|[[Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl]], Sailors in the Harbor of Pola, pastel on paper, c.&nbsp;1916. The [[James (Jack) Daulton|Jack Daulton]] Collection, Los Altos Hills, California.
File:Austro-Hungarian Dreadnoughts At Pula.jpg|Austro-Hungarian dreadnoughts at Pola
File:Flag of Pula (1923-1947).svg|alt=Flag in use during the Italian rule of the city[22]|Flag in use during the Italian rule of the city<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trentino Friuli città |url=http://www.rbvex.it/province/comunali/trentinofriulcitta.html#pl |access-date=2023-06-05 |website=www.rbvex.it}}</ref>
File:Pola-Stemma (1918-1943).svg|Coat of arms in use during the Italian rule of the city
</gallery>

=== Post–World War II and modern era ===
[[File:Pula University.JPG|thumb|right|[[Juraj Dobrila University of Pula|Pula University]] building]]

After [[World War II]], the [[Istrian Italians]] of Pula left Yugoslavia towards Italy ([[Istrian-Dalmatian exodus]]).<ref>{{cite book |author=E. White and J. Reinisch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJN9DAAAQBAJ&dq=pula+exodus+italians&pg=PA81 |title=The Disentanglement of Populations – Migration, Expulsion and Displacement in Postwar Europe, 1944–49 |year=2011 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |access-date=16 February 2022 |page=81 |isbn=9780230297685 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809031808/https://www.google.it/books/edition/The_Disentanglement_of_Populations/MJN9DAAAQBAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&dq=pula+exodus+italians&pg=PA81&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref> For two years after 1945, Pola was administered by the [[Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories]] (AMG). Pola formed an enclave within south Istria that was occupied by Yugoslavia since 1945 with the help of Churchill. The AMG was occupied by a company of the United States 351st Infantry and a [[British battalion]] of the 24th [[Brigade of Guards|Guards Brigade]]. Istria was partitioned into occupation zones until the region became officially united with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ([[SFR Yugoslavia]]) on 15 September 1947, under terms of the [[Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947|Paris Peace Treaties]]. The city became part of the [[Socialist Republic of Croatia]], a federal state within [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|SFR Yugoslavia]], upon the ratification of the Paris Peace Treaties on 15 September 1947 – which also created the [[Free Territory of Trieste]]. Initially, Pola's population of 45,000 was largely made up of ethnic Italians, however, between December 1946 and September 1947, the vast majority of Italians fled to Italy.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} Subsequently, the city's Croatian name, Pula, became the official name. Today the city of Pula or Pola is officially bilingual, Croatian and Italian, hence both Pula and Pola are official names.<ref>{{cite web |publication-date=2024-11-28 |date=November 2023 |title=Izvješće o provođenju Ustavnog zakona o pravima nacionalnih manjina i o utrošku sredstava osiguranih u Državnom proračunu Republike Hrvatske za 2023. godinu za potrebe nacionalnih manjina |url=https://vlada.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//2016/Sjednice/2024/Listopad/28_sjednica_VRH//28%20-%2015.docx?lang=ro |website=Vlada Republike Hrvatske |archive-date=2025-04-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250430005044/https://vlada.gov.hr/UserDocsImages//2016/Sjednice/2024/Listopad/28_sjednica_VRH//28%20-%2015.docx?lang=ro |language=hr}}</ref>{{rp|3}} Since the collapse of Yugoslavia in 1991, Pula has been part of the [[Republic of Croatia]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}