HEAD OF UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE CENTRE VISITS PULA

PULA, May 16 (Hina) - The head of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Mounir Bouchenaki, on Saturday visited the Croatian coastal town of Pula. Bouchenaki, accompanied by Croatia's Ambassador to the UNESCO, Vesna Girardi-Jurkic, toured the town's amphitheatre, the Roman theatre, the Cathedral, Pula's Forum, the Dual Door (Dvojna vrata), Hercules' and Golden Doors and the Basilica of Maria Formosa. After sightseeing, Bouchenaki expressed satisfaction with what he had seen. He told reporters that he would now have much more motives and arguments to defend the position of Croatia during its presentation of monuments for the world heritage list. Prior to his arrival in Pula, he visited Trogir, Split, Dubrovnik and Sibenik in the last three days. On Sunday Bouchenaki is touring Porec. These are Croatia's coastal towns which either have already their monuments on this list or are proposing their heritage for it. During this visit to the Croatian towns I have become acquainted with their cultural wealth, and could see that local authorities are promoting the cultural heritage. It is a unique line that connects southern and northern Croatian coastal areas, Bouchenaki said. (hina) ms