Exhibition Spaces
About Sacred Heart Gallery
The nuns of the Society of the Sacred Hearts built the monastery in 1899 and the three-nave church in 1908, in the late Baroque Classicism style. The project was started by the architect Virgilio Volpi and completed by Domenico Malusà. Although a 26-meter-high bell tower was planned, it was never built.
After the Second World War, the nuns left the church and monastery, and the premises remained unused until 1958. At that time, the Archaeological Museum of Istria began to use the church space as a depository. In 1962, the Technical School of Pula took over the monastery building. Due to the poor construction of the building, which was built on an embankment, the church suffered significant damage – the roof collapsed, and the apse began to separate and crack.
In the late 1980s, AMI (the Archaeological Museum of Istria) launched an initiative for its renovation, with the goal of creating a Museum and Scientific Centre. After the archaeological material was moved from the church to Fort Bourguignon in the early 1990s, the roof was replaced. The revitalization project began in 2007, and the space finally opened to the public in July 2011.
It is a multimedia space that can host museum and gallery-type exhibitions, but also serve as a venue for lectures, congresses, scientific forums, plays, concerts, films, festivals, and similar events. It is adapted for people with disabilities (vertical platform, accessible toilet, entrance ramp). Galleries connected by a bridge were added in the side naves of the church. The apse has been partitioned and closed off with a large wall that can be used for projecting films and presentations.
