Olives in Court

In 1785, after the peasants had harvested the last olive from the bishop’s groves at Cape San Lorenzo in Fažana and set off for Vodnjan to press their rich haul, the noble Mr. Antonio Artusio cried out: “No! That’s not how it’s done. The olives must be pressed in my mill!”

Mr. Artusio had leased the Fažana oil mill, expecting handsome profits. But for the second year in a row, he watched helplessly as his investment slipped through his fingers, while the bishop’s abundant olives made their way to Vodnjan instead. The Bishop of Pula, Ivan Domenico Juras, owned the largest olive grove in the Fažana commune—and the ambitious mill manager wanted his share of that golden harvest.

“It’s a scandal!” Artusio shouted—and took the matter to court.

“Olives grown and harvested in Fažana must be processed in an oil mill in the same village,” he argued.

The case kept lawyers and lawmakers busy for years. Meanwhile, the monsignor’s olives—blessed by God—continued to cross the border into Vodnjan… only to return home to Fažana in the form of precious olive oil.