Sežana

Sister cities

• Turi
• Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella
• Pardubice
• Rab
• Gornji Milanovac
• Montbrison
• Gevgelija
• Sant'Ambrogio sul Garigliano

History

Until 1918, the town was part of the Austrian monarchy (on the Austrian side after the compromise of 1867) and the seat of the district of the same name, one of the 11 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in the Austrian Littoral province. Sežana remained a small and rather insignificant village until the mid-19th century, when the Austrian Southern Railway Company built the Austrian Southern Railway, connecting Vienna to Trieste, next to it. Sežana thus became connected to major traffic and soon emerged as the most important center on the Karst Plateau, together with Opicina. After 1918, it was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy and included in the Province of Trieste. During the Fascist period, the population was subjected to a violent Italianization policy, and many locals joined the militant anti-fascist organization TIGR. During World War II, especially after 1943, the area became a battlefield between the Partisan resistance and the Fascist and Nazi German forces. In May 1945, Sežana was liberated by the Yugoslav Partisans. Between June 1945 and September 1947, it was administered by the British and U.S. Army. In 1947, it became part of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia and, in 1991, of independent Slovenia. Sežana railway station was opened in 1857, and forms part of the Vienna–Trieste railway. Since 1947, it has been that railway's border crossing point between Yugoslavia/Slovenia and Italy.