Nova Gorica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mestna občina Nova Gorica
Location of Nova Gorica in Slovenia
Area: 309.0 km²
Population
 - males
 - females
35,640
17,497
18,143
Average age: 39.75 years
Residential areas:
 - households:
 - families:
30.49 m²/person
12,702
10,112
Working active:
 - unemployed:
17,273
1,508
Average monthly salary (August 2003):
 - gross:
 - net:
 
273,666 SIT
169,623 SIT
College/university students: 1,628
Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, census of 2002.

Nova Gorica (population: 13,852 (town); 20,000 (incl. suburbs); 35,640 (municipality)) is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the Italian border. Nova Gorica is a new town, built in 1948, when the Paris Peace Treaty established a new border between Yugoslavia and Italy, leaving nearby Gorizia outside the borders of Yugoslavia and thus decapitating the area of the lower Vipava Valley from its regional center. Nova Gorica is the principal urban center of the traditional region of Goriška in the Slovenian Littoral.

The Transalpina railway square, divided between Slovenia and Italy, viewed from the railway station in Nova Gorica [Photo: RP].
Enlarge
The Transalpina railway square, divided between Slovenia and Italy, viewed from the railway station in Nova Gorica [Photo: RP].

To the south of the town lies Kostanjevica Hill, home to the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady and a 17th-century Franciscan monastery whose treasures from the past are rich indeed. The last members of the Bourbons, the French royal family, are buried in a crypt beneath the church (Charles X himself, and members of his family and entourage). He fled France following the revolution in 1830, finding refuge in Gorizia, and eventually eternal peace.

Opposite Kostanjevica Hill, north of the town is Sveta Gora (Holy Mountain), a peak of 682 m that has attracted pilgrims for 450 years. The view from there is exceptional, and on a clear day visitors can see as far as Istria, Venice, the Dolomites, and the Kamnik and Julian Alps. The mountain top is home to a magnificent basilica, where concerts are occasionally held, a Franciscan monastery, and a museum of the Battle of the Isonzo.

[edit] External links

 
Slovenia | Slovenian regions
Flag of Slovenia

Urban municipalities: Celje | Koper | Kranj | Ljubljana | Maribor | Murska Sobota

Nova Gorica | Novo Mesto | Ptuj | Slovenj Gradec | Velenje

Coordinates: 45°58′N 13°39′E