Temple of Augustus, Pula (must see)

The Temple of Augustus was built between 2 BC and AD 14, and it was dedicated jointly to Roma, the personification of the Roman state, and Emperor Augustus. Bronze letters once formed a dedicatory inscription across the front of the building. Although the letters have disappeared, their attachment holes remain visible and preserve the wording that helped archaeologists date the temple.

The limestone temple measures approximately 57.9 feet long, 27.9 feet wide, and 43.2 feet high. It consists of an enclosed sanctuary preceded by a smaller vestibule called the pronaos. Six Corinthian columns surround the porch, four of them standing across the façade. Above the columns, the frieze is carved with curling acanthus leaves, fruit, and birds, while the cornice contains projecting brackets and recessed panels. Round medallions once decorated the triangular pediments.

The temple originally formed part of a larger religious complex. A matching temple stood on the opposite side of the Forum, and part of its rear wall survives within the Communal Palace. Foundations belonging to an even earlier Roman temple can be identified by differently colored paving beside the Temple of Augustus. After pagan worship ended, the building became a church and was later connected to a neighboring medieval palace. It subsequently served as a warehouse, granary, and city archive before wartime bombing severely damaged it. The temple was reconstructed after World War II using surviving fragments and archaeological records.

Today, the interior contains an exhibition of ancient sculpture whose origins date to 1802. Displays include funerary and honorary monuments, architectural decorations, bronze figurines, marble reliefs, fountain elements, and fragments of imperial statues found around Pula. Among the more unusual objects are a gilded representation of the Egyptian goddess Hathor and a relief reproducing a ceremonial procession associated with Octavian’s monument at Actium.