We present the results of stellar photometry in eight fields of NGC 5128
(Cen A), a candidate polar-ring galaxy, obtained by reducing images from
the Hubble Space Telescope archive. In all cases, the color-magnitude
diagrams reached the red-giant region, and the distance to the galaxy
was determined from the position of the tip of the red-giant branch (4.1
Mpc), in agreement with previous estimates. Comparison of the diagrams
with theoretical isochrones indicates that the red supergiants in the
dark lane region are metal-rich, which is atypical of the polar rings.
Our results are consistent with the assumption made by several authors
that the absorption of a less massive spiral galaxy by a more massive
one is observed in NGC 5128.