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| Photo: Duško Marušić |
ISTRIANS HAVE
DISCOVERED PROOF
Pula:
Archeologists Discovered a Marble Column That Weighs More Than Ten Tons
Hrvatski
Source:
PULA
– Flacius Street that
runs between the Post Office and Uljanik is hiding ancient mosaics.
While working on the underground waste water canalization there
have been some archeological discoveries which have been conducted for the
last several months. The archeologist discovered a
real jewel at the depth of three feet below the street level and only a
few steps to the entrance to Uljanik. In the mud was hiding a discarded
marble column in length of about 23 feet and diameter of about three
feet with weight of at least ten tons. It was cut in half. The head of
the archeological discovery, Zeljko Ujcic said: “By deciding not to
dismantle the remains of the previously discovered Austro-Hungarian
hotel Central, the excavation was continued towards the south.
Then we discovered the marble column, which must have belonged to
a grandiose anciant building. This column may also be connected with
Iacobo Sansovino, a Venetian architect who was frequenting
Pula in 1557 and was taking marble
pieces from important building. This material was used in the building
of extravagant Venetian buildings. He was collecting marble columns from
the ancient theatre on Monte Zaro and also from the basilica
of
Santa Maria
Formosa. There
he was replacing marble columns with stucco ones, claims Ujcic, and the
one found yesterday appears to have been rejected or forgotten at the time.
This Venetian architect was also using this marble for the staircase of Saint Mark’s Library.
Part of Pula
was also used to build the Dodges
Palace. “We will
go to
Venice and compare this marble
column with those in Venetian’s buildings”, said Ujcic.
It is believed that even the
canopy (baldachin) above the main altar in the basilica of Saint Mark in Venice
was erected on the columns from Pula. In other words, it is believed that
the alabaster columns are columns that were taken from the church of Santa
Maria Formosa, claims Ujcic. Marble from
Turkey was used
to build the nearby basilica of St. Maria Formosa, which was built in
the VI
century and, according to the inscriptions, it was built by the master
builders from
Constantinople. Ujcic told us that the recently found
column may also be from a Turkish quarry. The basilica of
Santa Maria
Formosa was a
very opulent building, but in the XIII century it was neglected. It was in the middle of a swamp, and that is why people used to also call it
the basilica of St. Mary
od Trstike. In the XVI century it became a Venetian target. They have
devastated it by taking all the marble and any valuable objects. The
goal was to beautify
Venice. Some experts such as Robert
Matijasic, ex curator of the
Archeological
Museum, believe that in the Arena
there was a lots of marble on the facade of at least two balconies.
After Arena was no longer being used in the IV century when the
gladiator’s games were stopped, parts of the amphitheatre were being used
as building and ornamental material. However, there are no indications
that this material went to
Italy, but it
was used in Istria.
Translated by Pino Golja |
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This page compliments of
Marisa Ciceran and Pino Golja
Created: Monday,
January 28, 2008; Last updated:
Monday, January 28, 2008
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