Marcus Hurley
Google
Our final stop was the Venetian Fortress, built in the 17th century and commanding the town and harbour. There was a great exhibition inside showing how the whole area around Pula was fortified between 1813 and 1918 with 200 forts, towers and defensive buildings as well as three lines of defence that included trenches, minefields and wire. Probably because of this the town was not seriously threatened in WW1 but as the Austrians were on the losing side they had to give it up anyway. The coastline is still littered with these forts, some of which are as impressive as those of Verdun. The living conditions for the soldiers in these forts was pretty dire with dirt floors, intermittent lighting, poor air and bad sanitation.
There was also an apothecary exhibition, showing the medicines at the turn of the 20th century and the process involved in creating them. The fort itself was a classic star fort design with a deep moat all round. The views were as impressive as you'd expect and there was also the entrance to the underground tunnels, both those of the early 20th century fort and the excavations to be used as air raid shelters built up until WW2. The tunnels could hold almost 50,000 people if needed, the entire population of the town.
