Pula

A Roman amphitheatre of the first century, the only one that keeps all four towers on its outer wall. The vaults below show olive oil and wine amphorae, and on days of the July film festival and summer concerts daytime visits end early.

A temple on the old Roman forum, flattened by an air raid in World War Two and put back together once peace came. The back wall of the town hall next door has another Roman temple built into it, visible from around the rear.

A triumphal arch the Sergii family raised in the first century BC, standing where a town gate once was. A bronze James Joyce sits outside the cafe beside it; as a young man Joyce taught English in this city.

A star-shaped fort Venice built on the hilltop of the old town in the 1600s, now home to the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria. A lap of the ramparts looks down in turn on the arena, the harbour and the shipyard cranes.

Shelter tunnels the Austro-Hungarian army dug beneath the old town hill in the First World War, now open to walk through. Inside it stays cool even in midsummer, so a hot afternoon spent there dries the sweat.

A market hall of cast iron and glass built in 1903, whose ground level trades fish, meat and cheese. Vegetable and olive oil stalls fill the square outside, and as a morning market most pack up by noon.

An island group Tito used as a summer residence, where animals given by foreign leaders still live in a safari park. Access is solely by the park boat from Fazana harbour and every island visit follows a guided route, so summer visits need booking ahead.

A protected headland marking the last southern point of Istria, where low rock cliffs and small coves run on and on. Summer drivers pay to enter, the gravel tracks demand a crawl, and little shade exists anywhere on the cape.

An Austro-Hungarian fort on the Verudela peninsula turned aquarium, showing life from the Adriatic. It also runs a rescue centre for injured sea turtles, so turtles in recovery can be seen in the tanks.

A little fishing harbour up the shore from Pula, and the quay for boats to Brijuni. Sardine boats out all night tie up again at dawn, and the waterfront restaurants grill that catch over charcoal.

Built in the 1st century BC, Pula's oldest Roman monument bears a bearded Hercules on its keystone. An inscription preserves the names of the two Romans who founded the colony. A short walk on, the 2nd-century Twin Gates still stand.

A Roman villa floor in a yard behind buildings near the chapel of St Mary Formosa. Its central panel shows the Greek myth of Dirce tied to a bull. It came to light when wartime bomb rubble was cleared, and you look down on it over a street railing.

Irish writer James Joyce reached Pula in October 1904 and taught English to Austro-Hungarian naval officers at the Berlitz school until leaving in March 1905. His bronze sits at a cafe terrace by the triumphal arch. His letters say he disliked the town.

The capital of the Histri, who held Istria before Rome, near Valtura village north-east of Pula. Rome took and destroyed it in 177 BC, rebuilt it, and it was abandoned in the 6th century. Walls and temple footings crown a seaward hilltop.

The church of Vodnjan, north of Pula, has a 62m bell tower, the tallest in Istria. Its sacristy keeps saints' bodies said to be incorrupt and hundreds of relics, which draw pilgrims. From the tower you see across the olive groves to the Brijuni islands.