Porporela

Porporela is the long, curved concrete breakwater that reaches out into the Adriatic Sea just below the stone walls of the old city. Built in eighteen seventy-three, it serves as the essential shield for the Old Port, calming the violent waves that once smashed into the harbor. During the great storm of eighteen seventy-nine, the sea surged so high that it nearly breached the massive stone ramparts, forcing engineers to extend the pier and add the iconic green lighthouse at its tip.