This is the city of Pula ...
... in the colder part of the year, when all Tourists are long gone. The photograph was taken in January, COVID-19 was still one of the many distant news that don't raise concerns, so this empty atmosphere isn't here because of the pandemic, this is just the ordinary Pula in winter ...
... the time is about nine o'clock in the morning ...
... and although this looks like the beginning - it's not.
The post starts earlier that day ... with the full moon raising above the resting seagull ...
... a pigeon on some ancient head...
... and pigeons in general ... these birds were strategically deployed on various architectural elements and stuff of the old facades ...
... I mean, I don't know what was the strategy ...
... and I can't even prove that there was any ... but ...
... it looked like a strategic formation.
The pigeons soon ...
... turned from sleepy to restless.
The old man appeared from a small side street and the breakfast was served.
I caught this mysterious ancient detail, also there, on one of those facades, while the birds were flapping around pretty loudly in the morning silence with not a car around.
Later I encounter some people behind the glass, it looked like some fashion Zoo.
There were even some children in that terrarium.
When the sun started coloring the buildings with warmer tones ...
... I was in the middle of the old town ... filled with impressive ancient architecture.
This is the Roman triumphal arch from the 1st century BC. It was the main gate to the ancient city.
A bit further ... I mean, about half kilometer further...
... is the Roman amphitheater... built also around the same time ... from the year 27 BC to the year 68 AD.
The arena had a total of 15 gates. A series of underground passageways were built underneath the arena along the main axis from which animals, participants of festivities or religious festivals and fighters could be released, the spectacles varied from happy and colorful to bloody and murderous. Stores and shops were located under the raked seating.
Each of the four towers had two cisterns filled with perfumed water that fed a fountain or could be sprinkled on the spectators. The amphitheater could be covered with velaria (large sails), protecting the spectators from sun or rain.
Many centuries later, on that winter morning, I saw only a seagull there.
This is some old house near the ancient arena ...
... and here, on the opposite side of the circle, a look at the tallest church tower in town. A relatively young one, built in 1931.
This is a wider look at one of the neighborhood around the amphitheater ... and on the following shot ...
... you can see the same thing from a slightly different angle.
This is a detail from one of the buildings you just saw on previous two photographs.
This photograph of the Iconic building from the 30s ...
... as well as this shot ... was taken on the way back to the triumphal arch ... and then ...
... I was teleported at the outskirts of town ... in the humid valley surrounded by hills and buildings ...
... where the mist hung above narrow canals.
There is still plenty of reeds in this area, that once was a swamp ...
... and this is the look through the reeds ... at some distant neighborhood on the hill.
With this shot I'm back in the valley ...
... in the swampy suburbia.
Here I noticed these pretty active, shiny chimneys that looked quite futuristic when compared to the surrounding ones.
This is a look at some cool contemporary architectural element from that part of the city.
Here you can see a very generic shot from a completely different area, the old town ... I forgot about this picture when working on that segment of the post ... so, after a short dilemma, I decided to shamelessly put it here, like an alien flower out of nowhere.
After this short look at the area between the old town and the suburbia ...
... is time for another teleport operation.
I'm in the port now and time is - exactly around noon.
This is a look at some old industrial stuff on the other side of the bay ... and the train station, the much smaller building on the photograph ... and that's all about the port for today... with the next shot ...
... I'm in another suburban neighborhood ...
... very near to the old town.
It's early afternoon ...
... and it looks ...
... like nobody lives here anymore ...
... beside this dog.
It's a lovely dog ... don't you think so?
............................................THE END .............................................
As always in these rambling posts on HIVE, all the photographs are my work ... and by the way :) I just must say that I like the name of this community very much, It's a great fucked up name that gives a sense of being at home.