page_title: Pula
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Pula / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Español: Fuerte Kaštel, Pula, Croacia English: Kaštel fortress, Pula, Croatia. This is a a photo of a cultural heritage in Croatia with ID: Z-5638
context_page_description: Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia and the eighth largest city in the country, situated at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula, with a population of 57,460 in 2011. It is known for its multitude of ancient Roman buildings, the most famous of which is the Pula Arena, one of the best preserved Roman amphitheaters. The city has a long tradition of wine making, fishing, shipbuilding, and tourism. It was the administrative centre of Istria from ancient Roman times until superseded by Pazin in 1991.
context_section_description: After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the city and region were attacked by the Ostrogoths, Pola being virtually destroyed by Odoacer, a Germanic foederati general in 476 AD The town was ruled by the Ostrogoths from 493 to 538 AD. When their rule ended, Pola came under the rule of the Exarchate of Ravenna (540–751). During this period Pola prospered and became the major port of the Byzantine fleet and integral part of the Byzantine Empire. The Basilica of Saint Mary Formosa was built in the 6th century.
  From 788 on Pola was ruled by the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne, with the introduction of the feudal system. Under the Franks it was part of the Kingdom of Italy. Pola became the seat of the elective counts of Istria until 1077. The town was taken in 1148 by the Venetians and in 1150 Pola 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 Pisans in 1192 but soon reconquered by the Venetians.
  In 1238 Pope Gregory IX formed an alliance between Genoa and Venice against the Empire, and consequently against Pisa too. As Pola 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 Genoese defeated the Venetians in a naval battle.
  Pola 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.
  Pola is quoted by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who had visited Pola, in the Divine Comedy: "Sì come a Pola, presso del Carnaro, ch'Italia chiude e i suoi termini bagna" or "As Pola, along the Quarnero, that marks the end of Italy and bathes its boundaries".
caption: Pula Fortress
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