Coliseum at Pula, Croatia

We took a local bus for the 45-minute ride south from Rovinj to Pula, with this first-century Roman amphitheater  as our main objective. Known locally as the Pula Arena, it is truly spectacular-- among the six largest Roman arenas still in existence. The structure is still nearly complete, more so than virtually all others, retaining its full circuit. Researching it on the internet in advance we learned that a large concert stage was under construction (in fact Sting had performed there in July), so we were braced when we saw it covering nearly the entire floor. I've spared you that sight, but you can see bits of behind the red-haired fellow on the right. (The blip is from three images merged vertically in Photoshop.)

The Temple of Augustus in the extra was the next most notable Roman structure we saw. (The link leads to several such temples--click the one for Pula.) Also from the early first century,  it was bombed by the Allies in 1944 but reconstructed soon afterwards with their support.  We spent four hours; it was fascinating.