On the promontory of Capo di Pula stood Nora, founded by the Phoenicians around the eighth century BC and for a brief period the capital of the Roman province of Sardinia and Corsica, before the title passed to nearby Caralis. The raids of the Vandals and later of the Saracen pirates emptied it, and from the eighth century AD Nora ceased to exist. It came back to light by chance: a violent sea storm uncovered part of the funerary building of the tophet, and from there the excavations began, which gave back the forum, the baths, the temple and above all the theatre, well enough preserved to host performances still.
The name of the town comes perhaps from the Greek pùle, passage, or perhaps from the Sardinian padule, marsh, and that is no accident: in the Middle Ages the village was called Padulis de Nura, the marsh of Nora. Its history is made of emptyings and returns. After centuries of war it was almost uninhabited when, from 1630, the Centelles marquises encouraged its repopulation; then the plague of 1652 cut down the people who had arrived, and the Barbary raids did the rest, and the village emptied once more. It was reborn in the eighteenth century, thanks to the Mercedarian friars and to farmers and shepherds who came from outside.
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📅 Every year, on 24 June; May brings the pilgrimage on foot to the church of Sant'Efisio at Nora
Pula celebrates Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, in the church dedicated to him. One of the most important popular feasts is the traditional pilgrimage in honour of Saint Ephysius, which in May sets off from the town centre and reaches the Church of Sant'Efisio at Nora.
Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Pula, but an easy day trip away.
