Pula Forum and the Temple of Augustus

Pula's Roman forum is still the town's main square, and it still has its temple. The Temple of Augustus stands at the north end on a raised podium, a small Corinthian building put up around the turn of the first century and used since then as a church, a granary and a museum. It was rebuilt in the twentieth century after severe damage, and the join between old and new stone is visible once you look for it. The rest of Roman Pula is scattered through the streets around: the Arch of the Sergii at the end of the old shopping street, the Gate of Hercules with a worn head cut into its keystone, the Twin Gates, and long stretches of the town wall.

What you actually see

• The Temple of Augustus - a small Corinthian temple on a podium, now holding one room of Roman stone and bronze.
• The Arch of the Sergii - a first-century BC family arch at the entrance to the old shopping street.
• The Gate of Hercules - a plain arch with a weathered head and club carved into the keystone.
• The forum square - the town hall built directly against the temple's neighbour, with cafés across the paving.

When to go

Spring and autumn are the sensible seasons; the square is unshaded and July afternoons on the stone are punishing. The temple keeps museum hours and closes earlier out of season, so check before walking up. Evening is the best time on the square itself, when the light goes warm on the columns and the town comes out.

Honest expectations

This is a working square, not a fenced ruin, so cafés, parked scooters and market stalls sit against the monuments and a clean photograph is hard to get. The temple interior is one small room and takes ten minutes. The other Roman gates are barely labelled and easy to walk straight past. Most visitors come for the amphitheatre and give the forum twenty minutes.

Nearby

Pula's amphitheatre is ten minutes on foot, and the Istrian hill towns are an hour inland.