Croatia's Roman city — an intact amphitheatre still used for concerts 2,000 years on
Pula is the largest city on Croatia's Istrian peninsula, home to one of the world's best-preserved Roman amphitheatres — seating 23,000 people and still hosting concerts and film festivals today. The old town is layered with Roman arches, temples, and mosaic floors, all set against a working port city rather than a curated tourist zone.
Pula was a Roman colony from around 177 BCE, growing into one of the most important cities on the Adriatic coast. Its amphitheatre, built between 27 BCE and 68 CE, is the sixth largest surviving Roman arena in the world and the only one outside Italy to retain all four side towers. After Rome's fall it passed through Byzantine, Venetian, Habsburg, and Italian hands before becoming part of Yugoslavia and then Croatia.