Film Festivals Days

I represent a film on Shark conservation (Sharkwater Extinction by late Rob Stewart) and my eyes caught sight of a brochure at the airport displaying sharks! I thought I should check the aquarium out, I did and was very pleasantly surprised by the visit, the dedication of the team I met there and the beauties available.

The first visible extraordinary asset is the spectacular setting in an ancient fortress built 19th century.

Here is a drone view : no more cannons just an aquarium under the 20 tons vault dome.

The walk to the Aquarium from Park Plaza(festival hostpot) is splendid, with seafront promenade between gardens from the local luxury resort and spectacular adriatic sea views.

A little of that ambiance is captured in this video: enjoy!

Aquarium Pula is a destination that will attract children as well as adults. Alongside the aquarium display, that in a uniquely interesting and educational way presents natural and cultural history of Croatia, the aquarium setting is remarkable in its own right. Namely, it is housed is an Austro-Hungarian fort "Verudela", built in 1886. and registered as protected cultural heritage.

The fort has been under a constant process of revitalization since 2002. More than 1500 m2 of aquarium space and 5000m2 of outside area is adapted to suit the needs of the aquarium and its visitors. Most of the rooms have been used to display various exhibits, only the central part – the cannon block – and the moat surrounding the fort, 100 meters long and 10 meters wide, remain unused.

The central cannon block at fort Verudela, currently unoccupied, has been converted to display space housing living world of the Adriatic and tropical exhibits. In 2017 Aquarium Pula opened three completely new tanks 50 m3 of water each. The ground level tank is home for some larger Adriatic animals, such as the sunfish, the eagle ray and several shark species, while the tank on the first floor is reserved for tropical sharks.

With the main goal of promoting natural heritage and spreading knowledge about the need for its protection and valorization, the aquarium presents a diversified offer and a creative product that supplements regular mainstream tourism oriented toward entertainment and sport. Although public aquariums are present in our visitors countries of origin (Germany, Scandinavian countries, England, Italy), an integrated presentation of the region's history through a 19th century Austro – Hungarian fortress along with the natural richness of the Adriatic is why Aquarium Pula is unique.
Educational activities conducted at Aquarium Pula represent a unique opportunity for domestic and foreign school groups, but also an avenue for popularization of conservation biology in order to promote the need to protect marine habitats by virtue of educational tourism. The sea turtle rescue centre, a well known NGO, also found its home in Aquarium Pula. Persistently working on marine life conservation, the Centre has already initiated a number of original programs to protect sea turtles, those long-lived creatures that are currently among the most threatened in the world.