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Gorizia ( ) is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border. Both towns constitute a continuated urban area which also includes the Slovenian town of Šempeter pri Gorici.
Gorizia is located at the confluence of the Isonzo and Vipava Valleys.
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Encyclopedia
Gorizia ( ) is a town in northeastern Italy, at the foot of the Alps and bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the Italian-Slovenian border. Both towns constitute a continuated urban area which also includes the Slovenian town of Šempeter pri Gorici.
Gorizia is located at the confluence of the Isonzo and Vipava Valleys. It lies in a plain overlooked by the Collio hills, which are renowned for the production of outstanding wines. Being sheltered from the north by a mountain ridge, Gorizia is protected from the cold Bora wind which affects most of the neighbouring areas. The town thus retains a mild Mediterranean climate throughout the year, making it a popular resort.
The name of the town probably comes from the Slovene word meaning "little hill", which is a very common toponym in the Slovene-inhabited areas.
History
Middle Ages
- See also County of Gorizia
Originally a watchtower or a prehistoric castle, Gorizia first emerged as a small village near the fords of the river Isonzo. It was not far from one of the most important Roman travelways linking Aquileia and Emona (the modern Ljubljana). The name of Gorizia was recorded for the first time in a document dating AD April 28 1001, in which the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III donated the castle and the village of Gorizia to the Patriarch of Aquileia John II and to Count Verihen Eppenstein of Friuli. The document referred to Gorizia as "the village known as Goriza in the language of the Slavs" ("Villa quae Sclavorum lingua vocatur Goriza "). The Eppensteins were later succedeed by the Palatine counts of Bavaria.
From the 11th century, the town had two different layers of development: the upper castle district and the village beneath it. The first played a political-administrative role and the second a rural-commercial role. Between the 12th century and early 16th century, the town served as the political and administrative centre of an essentially independent County of Gorizia, which at the height of its power comprised the territory of the present-day regions of Goriška, south-east Friuli, the Kras plateau, central Istria and East Tyrol.
Habsburg rule
See also Gorizia and Gradisca, Inner Austria
In the year 1500, the dynasty of the Counts of Gorizia died out and their County passed to Austrian Habsburg rule, after a short occupation by the Republic of Venice in the years 1508 and 1509. Under Habsburg dominion, the town spread out at the foot of the castle. Many settlers from northern Italy moved there and started their commerce. Gorizia developed in a multi-ethnic town, in which Friulian, Venetian, German and Slovene language was spoken.
In mid 16th century, Gorizia emerged as a centre of Protestant Reformation which was spreading from the neighbouring north-eastern regions of Carniola and Carinthia. The famous Slovene Protestant preacher Primož Trubar also visited and preached in the town. Already at the end of the century, however, Catholic Counter Reformation gained force in Gorizia, led by the local dean Janez Tavcar, who later became bishop of Ljubljana. Tavcar was also instrumental in bringing the Jesuit order to the town, which played an important role in the education and cultural life in Gorizia thereafter.
After the suppression of the Patriarchate of Aquileia in 1751, the Archdiocese of Gorizia was established as its legal successor on the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy. Gorizia thus emerged as an important Roman Catholic religious centre: the archdiocese of Gorizia extended over a large territory extending to the Drava river to the north and the Kolpa to the east, with the dioceses of Trieste, Trento, Como and Pedena subjected to the authority of the archbishops of Gorizia. A new town quarter developed around the Cathedral where many treasures of the Basilica of Aquileia were transfered. Many new palaces were built conveying to the town the typical late Baroque appearance which characterized it up to World War I. A synagogue was built within the town walls, too, which was another example of Gorizia's relatively tollerant multi-ethnic nature.
During the Napoleonic Wars, Gorizia was incorporated to the French Illyrian Provinces between 1809 and 1813. After the restoration of the Austrian rule, the Gorizia and its County were incorporated in the administrative unit known as the Kingdom of Illyria. During this period, Gorizia emerged as a popular summer residence of the Austrian nobility, and became known as the "Austrian Nice". Members of the former French ruling Bourbon family, deposed by the July Revolution of 1830, also settled in the town, including the last Bourbon monarch Charles X who spent his last years in Gorizia. Unlike in most neighbouring areas, the revolutionary spring of nations of 1848 passed almost unnoticed in Gorizia, thus reaffirming its reputation of a calm and loyal provincial town.
In 1849, the County of Gorizia was included in the Austrian Littoral, along with Trieste and Istria. In 1861, the territory was reorganized as the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca and granted a high degree of regional autonomy. At the time, Gorizia was a multiethnic town: Italian and Venetian, Slovene, Friulian and German were spoken in the town centre, while in the suburbs Slovene and Friulian prevailed. Although some tensions between the Italian-Friulian and the Slovene population were registred, the town continued to maintain a relatively tolerant climate until World War I, in which both Slovene and Italian-Friulian culture flourished.
World War One
- See also Battles of the Isonzo
Italy entered World War I on the Allied side and conflict with Austria-Hungary began on 24 May 1915. The hills west of Gorizia soon became a scenery of fierce battles between the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Army. The town itself was seriously damaged and most of its inhabitants were evacuated. The Italian army conquered Gorizia in 1916, with the front line moving to the western outskirts of the town. With the Battle of Caporetto in 1917, when the Central Powers pushed the Italians back to the Piave River, the town came under Austro-Hungarian control again.
After the battle of Caporetto the political life in Austria-Hungary resumed and Gorizia became the center of three competing political camps: the unified Slovene national front that demanded an autonomous Yugoslav state within Austria-Hungary, the Friulian conservatives who demanded a separate and autonomous Eastern Friuli within an Austrian confederation, and the underground Italian irredentist movement, who wished the unification with Italy. At the end of World War I, in late October 1918, the Slovenes unilaterally declared an independent State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, while the Friulians continued to demand an autonomous region under Habsburg rule. Gorizia became a contested town. In early November 1918, it was occupied by Italian troops again, which immediately dissolved the two competing authorities and introduced their own civil administration.
Part of Italy
In the first years of Italian administration, Gorizia was included in the Governorate of Julian March (1918-1919). In 1920, the town and the whole region became officially part of Italy. The autnomous County of Gorizia and Gradisca was dissolved in 1922, and in 1924 it was annexed to the Province of Udine (then called the Province of Friuli). In 1927 Gorizia became a provincial capital within the Julian March adiministrative region. During the fascist regime, all Slovene organizations were dissolved and the public use of Slovene language was prohibited. Underground Slovene organizations, with an anti-Fascist and often irredentist agenda, such as the militant insurrectionist organization TIGR, were established as a result. Many Slovenes emigrated to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and to South America, especially to Argentina. Many of these emigrants became prominent in their new environments.
After the Italian armistice in September 1943, the town was shortly liberated by the Slovene partisan resistance, but soon fell under Nazi German administration. Between 1943 and 1945 it was incorporated into the Operational Zone Adriatic Littoral. After a brief occupation by the Yugoslav partisans in May and June 1945, the administration was transferred to the Allies. On September 15 1947, the town was fully incorporated into Italy again. Several peripherical districts of the Gorizia municipality (Solkan, Pristava, Rožna Dolina, Kromberk and Šempeter-Vrtojba) were handed over to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, together with the majority of the former Province of Gorizia. The national border was thus drawn just off the town centre, putting Gorizia into a peripheral zone. In 1948, the authorities of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia (with president Tito's special support) started building a new town called Nova Gorica ("New Gorizia") on their side of the border.
Though a border city, Gorizia was not crossed by the border with Yugoslavia as often erroneously claimed. This image stems mainly from the presence in Yugoslav territory of old buildings once belonging to Gorizia: these include the old railway station of the line that connected the town of Gorizia to the Austro-Hungarian capital Vienna. Although the situation in Gorizia was often compared with that of Berlin during the Cold War, Italy and Yugoslavia had good relations regarding Gorizia. These included cultural and sporting events that favoured the spirit of harmonious coexistence that remained in place after Yugoslavia broke up in 1991.
With the breakup of Yugoslavia, the frontier remained as the division between Italy and Slovenia until the implementation of the Schengen Agreement by Slovenia on 21 December 2007.
Main sights
- The Castle, built within the Middle Ages walls, was once the seat of the administrative and judiciary power of the county. It is divided into the Corte dei Lanzi (with foundings of a high tower demolished in the 16th century), the Palazzetto dei Conti (13th century) and the Palazzetto Veneto. The Lanzi were the armed guards, the term being an Italian form of Landsknecht. The palatine chapel, entitled to Saint Bartholomew houses canvases of the Venetian school of painting and traces of Renaissance frescoes. There is also a Museum of the Goritian Middle Ages.
- The Cathedral (originally erected in the 14th century), like many of the city's buildings, was almost entirely destroyed during World War I. It has been rebuilt following the forms of the 1682 edifice, a Baroque church with splendid stucco decoration. A Gothic chapel of San Acatius is annexed to the nave.
- The most important church of Gorizia is that of St. Ignatius of Loyola, built by the Jesuits in 1680–1725. It has a single nave with precious sculptures at the altars of the side chapels. In the presbytery Christoph Tausch painted a Glory of St. Ignatius in 1721.
- The Palazzo Attems Petzenstein (19th century), designed by Nicolň Pacassi.
- The church of San Rocco.
- Palazzo Cobenzl, today seat of the archbishops.
- The Earls of Lantieri's house, which housed emperors and popes in his history.
- The Palazzo Coronini Cronberg, including an art gallery.
- The Transalpina railway square, divided by an international border.
- The Department of International and Diplomatic Sciences of the University of Trieste, hosted in the beautiful "Seminario Minore", is the most prestigious academic course in Foreign Affairs in Italy.
Border crossings
The Italy-Slovenia border runs by the edge of Gorizia and Nova Gorica and there are several border crossings between the cities. The ease of movement between the two parts of town have depended very much on the politics of both countries, ranging from strict controls to total free movement since December 21, 2007 when Slovenia joined the Schengen area.
Designated border crossings are (Gorizia-Nova Gorica):
- Casa Rossa-Rožna Dolina: main international crossing checkpoint
- Via San Gabriele-Erjavceva Ulica: previously only for local traffic with passes, nearest crossing to Nova Gorica center
- Via del Rafut-Pristava: previously only for local traffic with passes
- San Pietro (Via Vittorio Veneto)/Šempeter pri Gorici (Goriška Ulica)
- Nova Gorica railway station square:open pedestrian square disected by the border that was once fenced. The square was never an official crossing and signboards were erected to prohibit people from crossing square from one side to the other
- The major highway crossing at San Andrea-Vrtojba is located nearby to the south of the city.
Historical demography
The chart shows the historical development of the population of Gorizia from the late 18th century to the eve of World War I, according to official Austrian censuses. The figures show the population of the municipality of Gorizia in the boundiaries of the time. The criteria for the definition of the ethnical structure were changing over the years: in 1789, only the religious affiliation of the population was taken into account; in 1869 the ethnic affiliation was also recorded, with Jews counted as a separate category; in 1880 the category of ethnicity was replaced by the mother tongue, and from 1890 to 1910 only the "language of everyday communication" was recorded. After 1869, the Jews were only recorded as a religious community, under the official category of "Israelites".
| Census | Ethnical structure |
|---|
| Year | Population of
Gorizia | Italians and Friulians | Slovenes | other Slavs | ethnic Germans | Jews | 1789 | 7.639 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 300 | 1850 | 10.581 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 1857 | 13.297 | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 1869 | 16.659 | 66,6% | 21,0% | n.a. | 10,8% | 1,8% | 1880 | 19.113 | 70,7% | 17,8% | 0,3% | 11,2% | (1,4%) | 1890 | 20.019 | 74,2% | 17,8% | 0,5% | 7,5% | n.a. | 1900 | 23.765 | 67,8% | 20,0% | 0,5% | 11,6% | n.a. | 1910 | 29.291 | 50,6% | 36,8% | 1,3% | 11,1% | (0,9%) | 1921 | 39.829 | 60,8% | 37,1% | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 1924 | 45.540 | 70,6% | 28,5% | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | 1936 | 52.065 | 68,1% | 30,0% | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. |
Culture and education
Although the majority of the population identifies with the Italian culture, Gorizia is an important center of Friulian and Slovene culture. Before 1918, the tri-lingual Gorizia Grammar School was one of the most important educational institutions in the Slovene Lands and for the Italians in the Austrian Littoral.
Nowadays, Gorizia hosts several important scientific and educational institutions. Both the University of Trieste and the University of Udine have part of their campuses and faculties located in Gorizia. Other institutes of international renomation from Gorizia are the Institute of International Sociology Gorizia, the Institute for Central European Cultural Encounters and the International University Institute for European Studies.
Gorizia is also the site of one of the most important choral competitions, the "C. A. Seghizzi" International Choir Competition, which is a member of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing.
Religion
The majority of the population of Gorizia is of Roman Catholic denomination. The town is the seat of the Archbishops of Gorizia, who were one of the three legal descentants of the Patriarchate of Aquileia (along with the Patriarchate of Venice and the Archdiocese of Udine). Between mid 18th century and 1920, Gorizia was thus the center of a Metropolitan bishopric that comprised the Dioceses of Ljubljana, Trieste, Porec-Pula and Krk. Several important religious figures lived and worked in Gorizia during this period, including cardinal Jakob Missia, bishop Francišek Borgia Sedej, theologians Anton Mahnic and Josip Srebrnic, and Franciscan monk and philologian Stanislav Škrabec. There are many important Roman Catholic sacral buildings in the area, among them the sancturies of Sveta Gora ("Holy Mountain") and the monastery of Kostanjevica, both of which are now located in Slovenia.
Until 1943, Gorizia was also home of a small but significant Jewish minority. Most of its members however perished in the Holocaust. An important Evangelical community also exists in Gorizia.
Famous natives and residents
Authors
Artists and architects
- Vittorio Bolaffio (1883-1931), Painter
- Italico Brass (1870-1943), Painter
- Max Fabiani (1865-1962), Architect
- Franc Kavcic (1755-1828), Painter
- Gojmir Anton Kos (1896-1970), Painter
- Rodolfo Lipizer (1895-1974), Violinist
- Nicolň Pacassi (1716-1790), Architect
- Veno Pilon (1896-1970), Painter
- Saša Šantel (1883-1945), Painter
- Carlo Tavagnutti (b. 1929), Photographer
- Jožef Tominc (1790-1866), Painter
Politicians and public servants
- Engelbert Besednjak (1894-1968), Politician
- Carlo Favetti (1819-1892), Politician and poet
- Andrej Gabršcek (1864-1938), Politician, editor and historian
- Anton Gregorcic (1852-1925), Politician
- Henrik Tuma (1858-1935), Politician, mountaneer and author
Religious figures
- Karl Michael Attems (1711-1774), First Archbishop of Gorizia
- Luigi Fogar (1882-1971), bishop of Trieste (1923-1936)
- Anton Mahnic (1850-1920), Roman Catholic bishop, author and political activist
- Jakob Missia (1838-1902), Cardinal
- Francišek Borgia Sedej (1854-1931), Prelate
Scholars
- Graziadio Isaia Ascoli (1829-1907), Linguist
- Martin Baucer (1595-1668), Historian
- Johannes Christian Brunnich (1866-1931), Chemist
- Štefan Kociancic (1818-1883), Theologian
- Franc Kos (1853-1924), Historian
- Milko Kos (1892-1972), Historian
- Pietro Andrea Mattioli (1501-1577), Naturalist
- Fulvio Melia (b. 1956), Astrophysicist
- Carlo Michelstaedter (1887-1910), Philosopher
- Avgust Pirjevec (1887-1944), Literary historian and librarian
- Carlo Rubbia (b. 1934), Physicist and Nobel laureate
- Jožko Šavli (b. 1943), Historian.
- Vladimir Truhlar (1912-1977), Poet and theologian
Sportsmen
Others
Pictures
Twin towns
Gorizia is twinned with:
External links
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