Nesactium

Nesactium was the principal settlement of the Histri, the people who gave Istria its name, on a low hill above the Budava inlet. Rome besieged it in 177 BC and, according to Livy, took it by diverting the stream that supplied the town; the Histrian king Epulon killed himself as the walls were breached. The Romans then rebuilt the place as a municipium, so what is exposed on the ground is layered - Histrian walls and a necropolis beneath a Roman forum, two basilicas and street lines. Excavation began in 1900 and produced the carved stone figures, including the well known Histrian sculptures, now in the Pula museum.

History

Nesactium was the chief town of the Histri, the people who gave Istria its name; they belonged to the prehistoric hillfort culture of the region, perhaps with later Celtic influence, and lived by trade and, it is said, by piracy, and their legendary king was Epulon. The Romans took and destroyed the town in 177 BC, then rebuilt it on the Histrian plan, and it remained a Roman town until 46-45 BC, when the colony of Pola, today's Pula, was raised to Pietas Iulia; it stood on the Via Flavia, the road from Trieste to Dalmatia. The Romans left it in the 6th century, after the Avar and Slav invasions, and its Histrian and Roman walls still stand; the archaeologist Kristina Mihovilić, long a curator at the Archaeological Museum of Istria in Pula, is the name most linked with its study (Wikipedia, Nesactium).

What you'll find

• The Histrian capital - the people who named Istria.
• Taken by Rome in 177 BC - Livy's account of the siege and the king's death.
• Layers on one site - Histrian walls under a Roman forum and basilicas.
• Dug since 1900 - the finds themselves are in Pula.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Good to know

The remains are foundations and low walls; there is nothing standing. Interpretation on site is limited. The best finds are in the Pula archaeological museum, which has had long closures. There is no shade.

Nearby

Pula is west; the Premantura peninsula is south.

Key facts