The first tourist excursions to Pula were recorded at the beginning of the
19th century. Giovanni Carrara, a conservator of antiquities in Pula, guided
the sightseeing tours for distinguished personalities and organized groups in
1828.
In 1832 Pula was visited by the Austrian emperor Ferdinand I. The first
tourist guide on Pula (Cenni al forestiero che visita Pola - Tips for a Foreigner
Visiting Pula), published by the Austrian Lloyd from Trieste, compiled by Pietro
Kandler, was printed in 1845.
The first public beach, Bagno Polese, for the
citizens and tourists, located between the islet of Ulja-nik and the administration
building on the coastal promenade, was opened in 1885.
After that, two other
beaches were constructed, "Sakordana" and the marine officers' beach
on the islet of St. Peter, where men and women could swim at different times
of the day.
During the First World War the Zelenika beach was opened, and in
1936 the Stoja beach (Stabilimento bagni di Stoia).
The first modern hotel in
Pula - Hotel Riviera - was opened in 1908. Under the Italian rule, the hotels
Miramare, Bologna, Milano and Centrale were operating as well as the children's
summer camps Principe di Piemonte on Stoja and Sandro Mussolini on Vargarola.
In the 1930s Pula had several travel agencies. Tourism in Pula experiences its
peak in the 1960s, when on the beautiful, well-indented and green coast south
of Pula the construction of modern tourist resorts was initiated (Zlatne Stijene,
Ribarska Koliba, Verudela).
PULA, a town and port in the south-western part of Istria; population 62,378.
Situated in the inner part of a bay, divided by the islands of St. Catherine,
St. Andrew and Uljanik into three port basins.
According to the size of the
con-structed coast and level of equipment, Pula is the most important and biggest
port in Istria, and the well-protected Pula Bay places it among the best natural
harbours on the Adriatic.
Due to its size, exposed location, two accesses (the
one directly from the sea and the other through the Fazana Strait), low coastline
and easy construction of fortification systems, provided the Pula Bay a special
strategic importance.
The landscape of Pula includes low and open relief largely
covered by red soil. The original forests of oak have been reduced to low shrubs;
the surroundings of Pula was reafforested with pine. The average air temperature
in January reaches 5 °C and in July 23.2 °C; the average annual rainfall
attains around 800 mm.
In winter, the bora and the sirocco blow; the bora is
sometimes extremely strong, and blows in the outer port.
Pula is the economic
centre with developed shipbuilding industry (Uljanik), textiles, metal industry
and building trades as well as glass manufacturing.
Tourist centre (marina).
The importance of Pula as a traffic intersection in the whole Istria has particularly
increased by the modernization of the airport. Situated on the main road (M2,
E751), and connected with Divaca by a railroad
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