GALIZANA

Galizana is a small town in the southern part of Istra, about twenty kilometers from Medulin, the place where I live, and ten kilometers from Pula, the city around which we smalltown people all gravitate.

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This is the main square, while in the following photograph ...

... you can see the bell tower of the Parish Church of St. Rocco, the biggest church in town. The tower is here since the mid 17th century, but the church is considerably older. Some important elements incorporated into the building date from the 13th century.

Just like the whole southern part of the Istra peninsula, the area where is now this town - Galizana, was densely populated throughout the period of Classical antiquity, especially during the Roman supremacy when the nearby city of Pula became an important military center for the expansion into the Balkan territories and the eastern Mediterranean.

There was plenty of action during the Middle Ages as well, so you can find quite a few old churches here, and archeological remains of many more. Here you can see the Basilica of St. Justin. This church from the 12th century preserved beautifully its Romanesque structure with an elevated shrine. The interior of the basilica is one meter lower than the level of the road that is currently passing next to this old building, but it's on the same level as its courtyard.

Here you can take a better look at the details of the facade.

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Here you can take a look t the same church from a different angle. This shot was taken through the dense growth of Ivy that's crawling across the walls and the gate of the old homestead on the other side of the road.

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This is a detail from the lateral wall of the same church.

Here you can see the local kids in front of the small church near the big church of St. Rocco. I don't know how is this one called, and I forgot to photograph the entire building.

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This is the church with the longest name in town. It's called The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was built in the 12th century, on the foundations of the ancient oil mill from the 6th century.

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This is a view on the part of the lateral wall, while in the following photograph ...

... you can see a detail from the wall opposite to the facade, from what can be called the behind of the church.

When I left this church, on that called sunny day in winter of 2010 when these photographs were taken ...

... I continued my aimless walk around the town.

I was soon on the main road that leads south to the city of Pula, and north to the town called Vodnjan. While not a city, Vodnjan is considerably bigger than Galizana, and kind of looks like a bigger version of it. This vista was photographed while walking towards Vodnjan ...

... and this photograph is taken from the opposite direction, while the sun was piercing my eyes.

The street lantern looked switched on by the sunlight.

The entire street looked pretty cool in that light.

This is a detail from the big church near the tower.

While rambling around the old center ...

... back then in 2010 ...

... I came across this abandoned old building ...

... and the weird advert board that can make you believe that renting this lovely ruin could be a good idea. It looks like a great place for drug deals and satanic rituals. This sign is actually trying to point the way to one of the newer houses behind it, but it wasn't so obvious at first sight.

A bit later I continued walking around that part of the town focused on windows ...

... and flowers on some of those windows.

Here you can see a detail from the small church at the southern edge of town. At this point, I was completely focused on details, so I don't have photographs that can show you the entire building. In the following photograph ...

... you can take a look at the barren interior of that little temple.

This old dry stone construction combined with some newer but rusted metal elements was photographed just outside the town. Less than a kilometer from the last houses.

A hundred (approximately) meters further I came across a garden ...

... with some nicely shaped vegetation.

It looked slightly surreal. Just slightly.

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This photograph was also taken in 2010. But not in winter. It was a hot summer day. The flies around the small bell tower of one of the old chapels on the road to Galizana were flying like some mysterious celestial beings made of pure light. This is the last photograph of this little journey.

As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.