Galižana-Gallesano

Galižana-Gallesano is one of the oldest places in Istria, dating back to the prehistoric period.

It was the centre of the Pula-Pola colonial ager and the junction of Roman roads, decumanus and cardo maximus, that determined the borders of different saltus and centuria in which the Romans divided the territory of Pula-Pola in order to give it out to its war veterans by drawing lots. These pieces of land were called sors. The settlement of Galižana was located in the centre of one such sors, which presumably belonged to a veteran originally from Galicia, therefore the Latin name of the settlement was Gallicianum.
In 1150 the name changes to Galisanum, then to Golisani. In 1303 the name Calisanum occurs.

In the area of Galižana there are numerous archeological findings from the Roman period, from which some have been discovered only recently. During the period of feudalism, from the 9th century, Galižana was governed by Pula’s bishops who owned the land and the right to collect tenths.

From 1300 Galižana is governed by the Patriarchs of Aquilea who were Istrian dukes at the time, so that a big number of churches from different periods and of different styles does not come as a surprise. As the fee of the bishops of Pula, Galižana was from IX. Century one of the few places spared of the infections that spread during the XVI and XVII. century, which decimated Istrian population.
A faster economic and cultural development begins in 1815 when the Pula-Trieste railroad line was built, although Galižana will always be mostly related to agriculture.

Galižana can boast its history and tradition which go back to the ancient times and which families who have lived here for centuries passed from one generation to another. Thanks to the dialect, one of the oldest in this area, that directly originates from medieval Latin and folk language, sayings, anecdotes, information, stories, names, nicknames, toponyms and other features of this remarkable area have also been preserved.

As this  is an agricultural region, the population is predominantly engaged in viticulture, olive growing and livestock producing excellent wine and premium olive oil (thanks to traditional presses with stone millstone that are still in use), goat cheese and other local products.
Apart from agriculture, tourism plays a significant role during the summer months when the traditional ‘’Nights of Galižana’’ are held, rich with folklore, old customs and gastronomic offer characteristic for the area of Galižana.