Bus from PULA to PRIŠTINA

Pula may not be the largest city of Croatia, but it takes the 8^th spot when it comes to size and is the largest city of Istria with population counting 57, 460 citizens and more. What makes Pula distinctive among other Croatian cities is its tradition of winemaking, fishing, shipbuilding, and booming tourism. In addition, it has also been Istria's administrative centre since ancient Roman times. While to an unobserving eye Pula may seem like a usual workday city, wealthy Roman architecture makes Pula stand out not just in Croatia, but worldwide. The star of the show is the remarkably well-preserved Roman amphitheatre, smack in the heart of the city, which dominates the streetscape and doubles as a venue for summer concerts and festivals.

Amphitheatre: Pula’s most famous and imposing sight situated in the heart of the city is this 1st-century oval amphitheatre, which lies above the harbour northeast of the old town. This mesmerizing construction, made completely out of local limestone, is called the Arena by locals and tourists alike. Throughout history it was used for hosting gladiatorial contests. With the capacity to accommodate around 20,000 spectators. Nowadays, Arena represents Istria's popular tourist attraction, but it is also the place of mass entertainment events, such as concerts and competitions.

Lightning Giants: A sight not to be missed while visiting Pula is its star evening attraction, a lighting display at the city's 19th-century Uljanik shipyard, regarded as  one of the world's oldest working docks. Renowned lighting designer Dean Skira has lit up the shipyard's iconic cranes in 16,000 different colour shades, which bring them to life four times every evening on the specified hour and last for 15 minutes.

Temple of the Augustus: While this temple is the only visible remnant from the Roman era on the Forum, it was regarded as Pula’s central meeting place from antiquity through the Middle Ages, and it has still preserved this function today. The temple, whose building process took a lot of time to finish, from 2 BC to AD 14, is open to public throughout the year,  now housing a small museum of Roman sculpture with the occasional temporary show.

Zerostrasse: This underground system of tunnels was built before and during WWI to shelter the city's population and serve as storage for ammunition. Now tourists can walk through several of its sections, which all lead to the middle, where a photo exhibition shows early aviation in Pula. 

Triumphal Arch of Sergii: While it cannot bear the title of the oldest Roman monument, this triumphal arch that was built in honor of the powerful Sergii family’s participation in the pivotal Battle of Actium in France. It dates to about 30 BC and despite its great age. The arch has preserved its shape till today.. When it was built the arch was a city gate leading up from the naval port. Carved into the stone are friezes depicting cupids and garlands, and just beneath this you can still spot a relief of a horse-drawn battle chariot.

Kastel, a Venetian fortress overlooking Pula, dates from the 1600s. The powerful-looking walls which leave every visitor speechless were designed in a star configuration, which was a state-of-the-art design in order to repel artillery after the arrival of gunpowder. Kastel was created with the purpose to serve as Venetians’ main stronghold, defending Pula’s harbour as well as the entire upper Adriatic.

Situated inside the Austro-Hungarian fortress Verudela, Pula’s Aquarium is regarded as the largest in Croatia. The aquarium is a useful option for rainy days or the hottest afternoons in summer, as well as a magnificent place for those traveling with children. Blending neatly with the fort’s stone architecture, tanks with freshwater and marine species native to Croatia and the Adriatic, together with tropical displays, a turtle rescue centre (the only one to be found in Croatia) and an entire room devoted to sea horses, are an unforgettable sight. The centerpiece of the attraction is the shark tank, which is found in the former atrium of the fortress.

Historical attractions aside, Pula is a busy commercial city on the sea that has managed to retain a friendly small-town appeal. It is conveniently located and with a short bus ride, a series of beaches can be reached at the resorts that occupy the Verudela Peninsula to the south. Further south along the indented shoreline, the Premantura Peninsula hides a spectacular nature park, the protected cape of Kamenjak.

 

Pristina, also spelled Prishtina or Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality and district.

The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities. With a population of about 500,000, Pristina is the second-largest Albanian-speaking city in the world.  Geographically, it is located in the north-eastern part of Kosovo close to the Goljak mountains. The city is situated some 250 kilometres north-east of Tirana, 90 kilometres north of Skopje, 520 kilometres south of Belgrade and 300 kilometres east of Podgorica.

During the Paleolithic Age, what is now the area of Pristina was envolved by the Vinča culture. Pristina was home to several Illyrian and Roman people at the classical times. The king of the Dardanian Kingdom, Bardyllis brought various tribes together in the area of Pristina in the 4th century BC, establishing the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient city of Ulpiana, that was considered one of the most important Roman cities in the Balkan peninsula. In the middle ages, Pristina was an important town in Medieval Serbia and also the royal estate of Stefan Milutin, Stefan Uros III, Stefan Dusan, Stefan Uros V and Vuk Brankovic.

When the Ottomans conquered the Balkan peninsula, Pristina was classified as an important mining and trading center on the market, due to its strategic position near the rich mining town of Novo Brdo. The city was known for its trade fairs and items, such as goatskin and goat hair, as well as gunpowder produced by artisans from Pristina in 1485. The first mosque in Pristina was built in the late 14th century, while under the Serbian rule. Pristina has always been considered as a city where tolerance and coexistence in terms of religion and culture has been part of the society in the last centuries.

Being the capital city, Pristina is considered as the heart of Kosovo because of its central location and its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education, service, research and healthcare. Almost all domestic and foreign companies, media and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city.

The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Parzyszek, and in the Polish surname Pryszczyk) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'.[citation needed] The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь, preserved as a surname in Sorbian Priš, and Polish Przybysz, a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ.

A false etymology[citation needed] connects the name Priština with the Serbian word prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding either or both to an adjective or the name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.

 

Pristina is the primary tourist destination in Kosovo as well as the main air gateway to the country.[58] It is known as a university center of students from neighbouring countries as Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. In 2012, Tourism in Pristina attracted 36,186 foreign visitors.[59] which represents 74.2%[60] Most foreign tourists come from Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, with the number of visitors from elsewhere growing every year.[61]

The city has a large number of luxury hotels, modern restaurants, bars, pubs and very large nightclubs. Coffee bars are a representative icon of Pristina and they can be found almost everywhere. The largest hotels of the city are the Swiss Diamond and the Grand Hotel Prishtina situated in the heart of the city. Other major hotels present in Pristina include the Emerald Hotel, Sirius Hotel and Hotel Garden.

Some of the most visited sights near the city include the Batlava Lake and Marble Cave, which are also among the most visited places in country.[62] Pristina has played a very important role during the World War II, being a shelter for Jews, whose cemeteries now can be visited.

As the capital city of the Republic of Kosovo, it is the center of cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that lives in Kosovo. The Department of cultural affairs is just one of the segments that arranges the cultural events, which make Pristina one of the cities with the most emphasized cultural and artistic traditions. Pristina is home to the largest cultural institutions of the country, such as the National Theatre of Kosovo, National Archaeology, Ethnography and Natural science Museum, National Art Gallery and the Ethnological Museum. Among the local institutions are the National Library of Kosovo which has more than 1.8 million books, periodicals, maps, atlases, microfilms and other library materials.

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Pristina, including the Albanian Albanological Institute, the German Goethe-Institut and Friedrich Ebert Foundation.[ Other cultural centers in Pristina are, the French Alliance Française and the British Council. The Information Office of the Council of Europe was also established in Pristina.