Gorizia

Comune di Gorizia
The old part of Gorizia seen from the Castle
The old part of Gorizia seen from the Castle
Country Flag of Italy Italy
Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Province Gorizia (GO)
Mayor Ettore Romoli
 (Forza Italia, elected 2007-05-27)
Elevation 84 m (276 ft)
Area 41 km² (15.8 sq mi)
Population (as of March 31, 2008)
 - Total 36,051
 - Density 879/km² (2,277/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates
Gentilic Goriziani, Goričani
Dialing code 0481
Postal code 34170
Frazioni Castello, Lucinico, Oslavia (Oslavje), Piuma (Pevma), San Mauro (Šmaver), Sant’Andrea (Štandrež), Straccis (Stražišče), Vallone dell'Acqua, Gradiscutta, Piedimonte (Podgora)
Patron Saints Hilary and Tatian
 - Day march 16
Website: www.comune.gorizia.it
The medieval center of Gorizia.

Gorizia (Friulian: Gurize, Slovene: Gorica, German: Görz) 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 town of Šempeter pri Gorici.

The town is located at the confluence of the valleys of Isonzo and Vipacco rivers. 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 city 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 gorica meaning "little hill", which is a very common toponym in the Slovene-inhabited areas.

Contents

History

Middle Ages

See also County of Gorizia

Originally a watchtower or a prehistoric castle, Gorizia soon became a little 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 for the first time recorded in a document dating AD April 28 1001, in which the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III donated of the castle and village of Gorizia made to the Patriarch of Aquileia John II and to Count Verihen Eppenstein of Friuli. The document referred to Gorizia as "The village, known in the language of the Slavs as Goriza" ("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 development plans: the upper castle district and the village beneath it. The first played a political-administrative role and the second a rural-commercial role. From the 12th century to the 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 the 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.

The Leopold Gate, built in the late 17th century in honour of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.

In mid 16th century, Gorizia emerged as a centre of Protestant Reformation which was spreading from 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 Tavčar, the later bishop of Ljubljana. Tavčar was also instrumental in bringing the Jesuit order to the town, which played an important role in the education and cultural life in Gorizia.

After the suppression of the Patriarchate of Aquileia in 1751, the Archdiocese of Gorizia 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. 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 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 was incorporated in the administrative unit known as the Kingdom of Illyria until 1849 when it was made a part of 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 large degree of regional autonomy. During Austrian rule, Gorizia became known as the "Austrian Nice", since it emerged as a popular summer residence of the Austro-Hungarian nobility. 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 died in Gorizia.

The Cronberg Palace, residence of the Bourbon family in exile.

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 felt, the town continued to maintain a relatively tolerant climate until World War I, in which both Slovene and Italian-Friulian culture flourished.

Italy entered World War I on the Allied side and conflict began with Austria-Hungary on 24 May 1915 with Italy soon taking Gorizia. Gorizia was seriously damaged and changed hands again in 1916 as the front line ran in its area for two years with several battles fought nearby until the Battle of Caporetto in late 1917, when the Central Powers pushed the Italians back to the Piave River.

After the battle of Caporetto the political life in Austria-Hungary resumed and Gorizia became the center of three competing political camps: the Slovenes, who united to demand an autonomous Yugoslav state within Austria-Hungary, the Friulian conservatives who demanded a separate and autonomous East Friulian County, and the underground Italian irredentist, who wished the unification with Italy. At the end of World war I, in late October 1918, the Slovenes unilaterally declared their independence within the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, while the Friulians continued to demand an autonomous region under Habsburg rule. Gorizia became a contested town. By early November 1918, the town was occupied by Italian troops again, which dissolved the two competing authorities.

Part of Italy

The Central Post Office (1932), one of the finest examples of Fascist architecture in the Julian March, designed by Angiolo Mazzoni.

At first, Gorizia was included in the Governorate of Venezia Giulia (1918-1919). In 1920, the town and the whole region became officially part of Italy. The eutnomous 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 Venezia Giulia. During the fascist regime, all Slovenian organizations were dissolved and the public use of Slovenian language was prohibited. Illegal Slovenian organizations, with an anti-Fascist and often irredentist agenda, such as the TIGR, emerged as a result. Many Slovenes emigrated to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and to South America, especially to Argentina.

After the Italian armistice in September 1943, the town was shortly occupied 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 until September 1947, when it 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 Yugoslavia, together with much of the Province of Gorizia's territory. The national border was thus drawn just off the town centre, putting Gorizia into a peripheral zone. The Yugoslav Slovenian authorities (with president Tito's special support) built a new town called Nova Gorica ("New Gorizia") from 1948 on, 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 still exists today.

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.

The Castle of Gorizia.

Main sights

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" (German: Umgangsprache) was recorded. After 1869, the Jews were only recorded as a religious community, under the official category of "Israelites".

Census[1] 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 Instiute 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, Poreč-Pula and Krk. Several important religious figures lived and worked in Gorizia during this period, including cardinal Jakob Missia, bishop Frančišek Borgia Sedej, theologians Anton Mahnič and Josip Srebrnič, 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

Politicians and public servants

Religious figures

Scholars

Sportsmen

Others

Pictures

Twin towns

Gorizia is twinned with:

References

  1. ↑ Branko Marušič, Pregled politične zgodovine Slovencev na Goriškem (Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej, 2005)

External links

Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Comuni of the Province of Gorizia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Capriva del Friuli · Cormons · Doberdò del Lago · Dolegna del Collio · Farra d'Isonzo · Fogliano Redipuglia · Gorizia · Gradisca d'Isonzo · Grado · Mariano del Friuli · Medea · Monfalcone · Moraro · Mossa · Romans d'Isonzo · Ronchi dei Legionari · Sagrado · San Canzian d'Isonzo · San Floriano del Collio · San Lorenzo Isontino · San Pier d'Isonzo · Savogna d'Isonzo · Staranzano · Turriaco · Villesse