PULA SITES
The Roman colony Iulia Pola Pollentia Herculanea was founded in 46 - 45 BC, during Caesar's dictatorship, on the site of an older Histrian hillfort settlement in the middle of a spacious bay with four islets. One of the first steps after the decision to establish the colony was the construction of city walls. The walls surrounded the base of the hillfort, following the coastline. They were built of crushed limestone pieces and plastered with lime mortar, with a width at the base of about 2.20 - 2.50 m. Towards the top, they gradually narrowed in building steps from the inside. They had 12 gates fortified with towers. On the land side were city gates known today as St. John's Gate, the Twin Gates (Porta Gemina), Hercules' Gate, and the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea).
Hercules' Gate is the only one preserved in its oldest form, as it was erected at the end of the Roman Republic. It was built using a technique characteristic of Roman late-republican construction, in the form of a single-arched passage framed by massive blocks of unequal width. The gate is angled in relation to the wall. Such a placement reflects millennia of building experience, according to which obliquely positioned entrances forced an attacker to expose their unprotected side to the defenders. At the top of the arch, a bearded head of Hercules and a club studded with nails are depicted in relief, and next to the club on the left side, an unframed inscription is carved with the names of the first two duumvirs, Calpurnius Piso and Cassius Longinus, Roman senators and members of Caesar's closest personal circle. From the inside, Hercules' Gate was later reinforced with a defensive corridor.
The Twin Gates are preserved in their renovated form from the early imperial period. They feature two identical arched passages connected by a unique architectural frame of a trapezoidal plan with half-columns, an architrave, and a richly decorated cornice. Two keystone blocks on the arches have grooves for attaching decorations, probably made of bronze. Like Hercules' Gate, the Twin Gates were buried under the ruins of the city walls during the 18th century, losing their function.
The Golden Gate was named because it represented the main entrance to the Roman colony. Remains of the city gate with its walls stood until the mid-19th century when they were demolished. The Golden Gate was initially a simple single-arched passage protected by rectangular towers. During the time of Augustus, triple gates were built with a wider central passage for chariots and two narrower side passages for pedestrians, and the rectangular towers were replaced by larger circular towers. Old engravings show an ascent towards the city entrance in front of the Golden Gate. Although today one descends when approaching the city entrance of the Golden Gate, archaeological research has confirmed the original ascent and the existence of outer protective walls built in the Middle Ages. On the inner side of the Golden Gate, towards the end of Augustus' reign, the Arch of the Sergii family was leaning against it.
The city walls were renovated several times during the Middle Ages. During these renovations, an outer wall was added next to the old one, into whose foundations elements of Roman tombstones, fragments of columns, architraves and cornices, and seats from the amphitheater and theatre were incorporated.
