The Illyrian tribe of Histre founded the town of Pula somewhere around 5th century BC. However, recorded history of Pula starts with the arrival of the Romans who called Pula “Colonia Pietas Iulia Pola” and who had built one of the most beautiful and the most valuable Antique monuments. Some of those monuments can still be seen today, and the most striking one is certainly the amphitheater Arena built during the region of Caesar Vespasian in the 1st century.
With the fall of the Roman Empire Pula changed many hands: Ostrogoths, Franconians and Venetians. In the 7th century Slavs came to Pula as well. However, after the fall of the Venetian Republic Pula fell into the hands of Austria (1848) and after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1918), Pula, with the rest of Istria became the part of Italy until the end of the Second World War.
After the Second World War Pula was governed by United Nations (as well as the US army) until it was finaly united with the Yugoslavia. However, after the fall of Yugoslavia, at the beggining of 1990, Pula became the part of the Republic of Croatia.
Source:
Istria Tourist Board