Gorizia/Nova Gorica
Gorizia is a small city on today's Italian-Slovenian border. It has been part of several different empires and nations in the last few hundred years: the Austrian Empire, Napoleon, Austria again, Italy, and, after World War II, it was split in two between Italy and Yugoslavia.
Just like on our first European trip, I had a personal interest in visiting this area. My grandmother's parents emigrated to the US from this region. They, like the parents of one of the people Randy met with while we were there, spoke Slovene in their home but were during their lifetimes considered Austrians, then Italians, and then Yugoslavians before Slovenia became its own Republic in the 1990s.
In World War I, Gorizia and the hills around it were brutalized during the Isonzo Battles. Of Italy's 600,000 casualties in the whole war, half of them were recorded on the Isonzo Front. Austrian forces lost nearly as many as well. The Friulians and Slovens, the dominant ethnic groups of the area, were caught in the middle. Here, too, is where Ernest Hemingway witnessed these battles as an ambulance driver, and then went on to write A Farewell to Arms based on his experiences.
This. This is the river valley where so many met their end. The Isonzo/Soča, with its jade water.
More after the jump
Above the city on the Italian side we saw the Gorizia Castle. Its foundations date to the 1100s, but later renovations and reconstructions changed the structure to what it looks like today. During the First World War, the castle suffered extensive damage but was restored in the 1930s.
The sun was out as we walked up the hill to reach the castle, only to find that on that day they had just posted different hours this week than we found online. They were closed by the time we reached it. We could still walk around the exterior, but we couldn't go in.
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit in the castle was built in 1398. It is still used for Holy Days.
Back down from the castle, we looked around central square. The Jesuits had a strong presence in Gorizia.
St. Ignatius of Loyola Church is perhaps more famous than the cathedral in Gorizia.
From here the kids and I walked to the Slovenian border by the Nova Gorica train station. There crossing at this location used to be a real checkpoint, but after the Republic of Slovenia joined the Schengen Area, the checkpoints were dismantled.
The train station had been built during the reign of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The new line connected Gorica to the rest of the Austrian Empire through Jesenice with and eye to accessing Italy. The archduke himself opened the train and train station ceremoniously in 1906. When, after World War II, the new borders were being drawn, and Italy and Yugoslavia needed to be defined, the rail line was used as the defining feature. Yugoslavia would keep the station and tracks, and Italy would get the city of Gorizia. At this point Nova Gorica came into being as a Yugoslav city.
Today, the cafe at the train station is popular with Italian Gorizians, so we're told. The beers served here are much cheaper and larger than what is sold on the Italian side.
While we were at the train station, Randy called me. His meeting was over and one of his associates offered to drive us to a few places of interest that we might otherwise miss. We were in the perfect spot to be found easily.
The first place he took us was Sveta Gora (also known as Monte Santo in Italian). The Franciscan monestary and basilica atop Sveta Gora were built at a reputed Marian Apparition location, with the earliest church receiving pilgrims here was recorded in the 14th century. During World War I, Sveta Gora suffered heavy damage, with the basilica that had been built in the 1500s completely destroyed.
Usually, devout visitors walk up the mountain in pilgrimage, but the merely curious can take a bus or drive up to it. We saw a few pilgirms as we drove up the steep, winding road.
The views from the mountain were spectacular. The Adriatic Sea was barely visible, but on clearer days (it was about to rain when we got up there) it is easily in view.
The second place he took us was another Franciscan monestary on a hill, also on the Slovenian side. The Kostanjevica Monastery was originally built by Carmelites beginning in 1623, but they were disbanded by the Emporer Joseph II in 1781. Franciscans adopted the site in 1811 and have been there since. Like Sveta Gora, Kapel suffered severe damage during the Isonzo battles and was rebuilt after that war. After World War II it was on the Yugoslavian side of the border by only a few hundred meters. The last of the Bourbon Kings and his family are buried in a crypt here, under the chapel. The exiled royals found a home in Gorizia, when it was part of the Austrian empire.
We had arrived just before public hours were over, and when we left it was about to rain. In our rush, I didn't get any pictures of the outisde of the chapel until after we had walked down the hill back into Italy.
We had considered staying on the Slovenia side of the border, since that was where Randy's meetings were, but the hotels of Nova Gorica were mostly attached to casinos.Gambling is illegal in Italy, but not in Slovenia. While wealthy high-rollers prefer places like Monte Carlo, Slovenia attracts gamblers on the other end of the scale. Busloads of Italian retirees arrive in Nova Gorica every day, not unlike the smaller slot-machine casinos that have appeared all over the United States in recent years. Staying in Italy was better for us travelling with children.
Just like on our first European trip, I had a personal interest in visiting this area. My grandmother's parents emigrated to the US from this region. They, like the parents of one of the people Randy met with while we were there, spoke Slovene in their home but were during their lifetimes considered Austrians, then Italians, and then Yugoslavians before Slovenia became its own Republic in the 1990s.
In World War I, Gorizia and the hills around it were brutalized during the Isonzo Battles. Of Italy's 600,000 casualties in the whole war, half of them were recorded on the Isonzo Front. Austrian forces lost nearly as many as well. The Friulians and Slovens, the dominant ethnic groups of the area, were caught in the middle. Here, too, is where Ernest Hemingway witnessed these battles as an ambulance driver, and then went on to write A Farewell to Arms based on his experiences.
This. This is the river valley where so many met their end. The Isonzo/Soča, with its jade water.
More after the jump
Above the city on the Italian side we saw the Gorizia Castle. Its foundations date to the 1100s, but later renovations and reconstructions changed the structure to what it looks like today. During the First World War, the castle suffered extensive damage but was restored in the 1930s.
The sun was out as we walked up the hill to reach the castle, only to find that on that day they had just posted different hours this week than we found online. They were closed by the time we reached it. We could still walk around the exterior, but we couldn't go in.
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit in the castle was built in 1398. It is still used for Holy Days.
Back down from the castle, we looked around central square. The Jesuits had a strong presence in Gorizia.
St. Ignatius of Loyola Church is perhaps more famous than the cathedral in Gorizia.
From here the kids and I walked to the Slovenian border by the Nova Gorica train station. There crossing at this location used to be a real checkpoint, but after the Republic of Slovenia joined the Schengen Area, the checkpoints were dismantled.
The train station had been built during the reign of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The new line connected Gorica to the rest of the Austrian Empire through Jesenice with and eye to accessing Italy. The archduke himself opened the train and train station ceremoniously in 1906. When, after World War II, the new borders were being drawn, and Italy and Yugoslavia needed to be defined, the rail line was used as the defining feature. Yugoslavia would keep the station and tracks, and Italy would get the city of Gorizia. At this point Nova Gorica came into being as a Yugoslav city.
Today, the cafe at the train station is popular with Italian Gorizians, so we're told. The beers served here are much cheaper and larger than what is sold on the Italian side.
While we were at the train station, Randy called me. His meeting was over and one of his associates offered to drive us to a few places of interest that we might otherwise miss. We were in the perfect spot to be found easily.
The first place he took us was Sveta Gora (also known as Monte Santo in Italian). The Franciscan monestary and basilica atop Sveta Gora were built at a reputed Marian Apparition location, with the earliest church receiving pilgrims here was recorded in the 14th century. During World War I, Sveta Gora suffered heavy damage, with the basilica that had been built in the 1500s completely destroyed.
Usually, devout visitors walk up the mountain in pilgrimage, but the merely curious can take a bus or drive up to it. We saw a few pilgirms as we drove up the steep, winding road.
The views from the mountain were spectacular. The Adriatic Sea was barely visible, but on clearer days (it was about to rain when we got up there) it is easily in view.
The second place he took us was another Franciscan monestary on a hill, also on the Slovenian side. The Kostanjevica Monastery was originally built by Carmelites beginning in 1623, but they were disbanded by the Emporer Joseph II in 1781. Franciscans adopted the site in 1811 and have been there since. Like Sveta Gora, Kapel suffered severe damage during the Isonzo battles and was rebuilt after that war. After World War II it was on the Yugoslavian side of the border by only a few hundred meters. The last of the Bourbon Kings and his family are buried in a crypt here, under the chapel. The exiled royals found a home in Gorizia, when it was part of the Austrian empire.
We had arrived just before public hours were over, and when we left it was about to rain. In our rush, I didn't get any pictures of the outisde of the chapel until after we had walked down the hill back into Italy.
We had considered staying on the Slovenia side of the border, since that was where Randy's meetings were, but the hotels of Nova Gorica were mostly attached to casinos.Gambling is illegal in Italy, but not in Slovenia. While wealthy high-rollers prefer places like Monte Carlo, Slovenia attracts gamblers on the other end of the scale. Busloads of Italian retirees arrive in Nova Gorica every day, not unlike the smaller slot-machine casinos that have appeared all over the United States in recent years. Staying in Italy was better for us travelling with children.
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