Gallipoli (Greek: Kallipolis (καλλίπολις), meaning Beautiful City) is a town and comune of 20,969 inhabitants in the province of Lecce, in Apulia, southern Italy. It is located by the Ionian Sea, on the west coast of the Salentina Peninsula.The town of Gallipoli is divided into two parts, the modern and the old city. The new town includes all the newest buildings including a skyscraper.The old town is located on a limestone island, linked to the mainland by a bridge built in the 16th century.liny the Elder attributes the foundation to the Senones Gauls, while more likely it was a Messapic settlement. Historically, what is known is that Gallipoli was a city of the Greater Greece, ruling over a large territory including today's Porto Cesareo.