St Mary Formosa's basilica, Pula
The biggest and the most important edifice built in Pula during the Byzantine reign is the triple-nave basilica of St Mary Formosa.
St Mary Formosa was built in the middle of the 6th century, during the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian. The building itself was erected on the ruins of Minerva’s Temple.
It was badly damaged already in the 13th century by the Venetians, and written reports from the 16th c. testify that at that time the church was in dilapidated condition. Today only the southern sepulchral chapel, which was annexed to the basilica, has been completely preserved.
The chapel represents an exceptional architectonic jewel of its time and, for its beauty and magnificent marble, mosaic and plastering decorations, it was named Krasna (Formosa – Beauty).
It was once a part of a big Benedictine Abbey which was completely destroyed in the 16th c. Its floor and walls were decorated with beautiful mosaics whose remains you can still see in the Archaeological museum in Pula.
