On the northern side of Pula bay stretches out the former Naval Base Katarina, originally built as part of the Austro-Hungarian defence system of the city of Pula and further extended during Italian rule.
On our holiday we’ve been exploring this site, with maybe a hundred buildings spread out over 6 km of coastline, including a 250 m long bridge connecting the island with the mainland. One day is not enough here, although a lot is trashed, it still has it’s urbex beauty!
During the Yugoslavian war the buildings came under heavy fire, the remnants of which can still be seen today, especially at some of the higher windows that face the sea.
βAfter the war and the creation of Croatia the base fell into disuse and ruin. The whole site has been decreed an object of cultural heritage but despite this there are current plans to develop the area into a large marina harbour.