1 - Parco della Rimembranza
At the beginning of the Nineteenth century, the area that is now occupied by the park was outside the urban centre. In 1827 the city council decided to move the city cemetery there, which was then surrounded by walls, leaving only one entrance on Via Duca d'Aosta. In 1860, the urban structure of Gorizia began to change after the inauguration of the railway station Southern Line Railroad, which connected Trieste and Udine. The station was connected to the city centre by a wide avenue (the present Corso Italia) that runs along the Park, and that became, in the following decades, the most important route along which the urban growth of the city developed. As a result, the podestà Depretis decreed to move the cemetery to the north, thus turning the area occupied by the old cemetery into the current park. In 1929, a small, circular shaped neo-classical temple was erected in the centre of the park. It was built in honour of the volunteers of Gorizia who fell in the Great War, and designed by Enrico Del Debbio. Subsequently, a large number of busts, plaques and monuments, mostly related to the Risorgimento and the period of World War I, were sited in the park, which became a symbolic place par excellence of the 'italianity' of Gorizia. After the signing of the Armistice on September the 8th 1943, the work of Del Debbio was at the centre of conflicts between the Slovenian collaborators of the Nazis (domobranci) and of the Fascists. Both sides were allied with the German occupier, but were also in open conflict at the level of national claims. In 1944, after a Fascist attack, the temple, the symbol of italianity, was blown up by the domobranci with the approval of the Nazis, nursing their policy of 'divide and conquer'. The rubble of the monument, deliberately left in ruins as a warning, became a privileged place for the organization of events and commemorations for the Italian component of the city. It was during one of these celebrations, on August the 8th, 1946, during the Allied Military Government, that several grenades were detonated, causing some casualties. The attack was attributed to the pro-Yugoslav groups who, at that stage, were fighting for the annexation of Gorizia to Yugoslavia. This gesture led to a violent reaction from the Italian side, who railed against the Slovenians, their homes and shops. Since 1985, the park has also been home to the lapidarium which commemorates those deported to Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav administration of Gorizia (May-June 1945).
2 - Trgovski Dom
A few important buildings of the city overlook the Public Gardens, which were built in 1860: the old Town Hall, the public baths, and the Trgovski Dom (House of Trade), which was commissioned by the Commercial and Industrial Consortium of the Slovenian community to be designed by the architect Max Fabiani (1865-1962), between 1903 and 1905. Fabiani, who trained at the Realschule (Royal School) in Ljubljana and at the Technische Hochschule (Polytechnic institute) in Vienna, and who subsequently became a collaborator to Otto Wagner, was working on the development of a similar building in Trieste at the time, the Narodni Dom. The Gorizian building, which featured an innovative style and internal organisation of spaces, remained property of the Commercial and Industrial Consortium until the 1920's. In the intentions of the commissioners, the Trgovski Dom, situated in the centre of the city, was to develop into a place that would be representative of the Slovenian community of Gorizia, becoming the driving force of political, commercial, cultural and recreational activities. The building housed a few important economic and cultural institutions, professional practices, shops, but also a small theatre, a library and conference rooms. In 1927 the Trgovski Dom was set on fire by the fascists who, by doing so, intended to hit the Slovenians symbolically and physically, in an attempt to 'italianise' the area. The building was then expropriated and turned into a Casa del Fascio (House of the Fascist Party), which housed office and administrative centres of the regime, thus retaining the polyfunctional vocation of the building. In 1945 the sign 'Ljudski Dom' (House of the People) appeared on the ledge: from the liberation of the city and the following period of Yugoslav administration, the building once again housed the political and cultural Slovenian organisations. During the period of allied administration, the House was often the stage for the struggles for the national affiliation of the city. In 1947, it was expropriated again by the Italian government and chosen as the location of public government offices. From the 1950s to the 1980s, the theatre was rented at the symbolic amount of 10 liras to the National League, who organised meetings, dancing evenings, and sporting events. During the last years, in compliance with the tutelary laws concerning the Slovenian language and culture, processes have begun in order to 'return' the building to the city: especially to the Slovenian Associations and the Isontine Public Library.
3 - Via Roma
Until the First World War, the area between Via Morelli, PiazzaVittoria Square and Via Rastello was not developed, if we exclude the Ursuline monastery which included large orchards and gardens within its boundaries. To reach the suburbs from the urban centre, one had to cross the 'passage' that ran through the residence of the Edlin aristocrats, who gave the name to the passage. In the second half of the Nineteenth century, a few school buildings began to appear around the square behind the passage: the public school, the boys' citadel and a kindergarten. From the Fascist period onwards, the arterial route began to be characterized by the construction of some of the main buildings that were intended to house offices and local administration centres. In 1933, the seat of the Provincial Council for Economy, designed by Roberto Cristofori, was built at the corner with Via Crispi, and it was meant to replace the existing Chamber of Commerce founded in 1850. This was part of a plan by the Empire to improve communications between the Ministry of Commerce and local businesses. During the period of German occupation following the armistice, the palace became one of the Nazi headquarters. During the ally period after the end of the war, the building once again hosted the reconstituted Chamber of Commerce. The current Via Roma, the focal point of public urban building planned by the regime, was inaugurated in 1938 to host Benito Mussolini's parade during his official visit to Gorizia. Via Roma and Via Crispi, roads of passage par excellence, which link Piazza Vittoria with the main avenue (Corso), played a central role during the period of the Allied Military Government, becoming a stage for numerous events directed at the central square: the parades of the Yugoslav partisans in May 1945, the pro-Yugoslav demonstrations in 1946, the ceremonies organized in honour of the Anglo-American military and those welcomimg the entry of Italian troops in 1947.
4 - Piazza della Vittoria
A religious, political and economic centre of Gorizia for a long time, the central area of the city has taken on many different names: Travnik (Meadow), Piazza Maggiore, Piazza Grande, Piazza della Vittoria. The square is home to some of the events that marked the twentieth-century Gorizia: the visit of Benito Mussolini in 1938, the radio announcement for the entry into the war in 1940, the speech of the Duce in 1942, the arrival of the German troops in 1943 and of the Yugoslav ones in 1945, the establishment of Allied Military Government immediately after the war. Between 1945 and 1947 – while peace talks are taking place in Paris – Piazza della Vittoria became the privileged stage for numerous events for the national affiliation of the city, organized by both supporters of annexation to Yugoslavia and by proponents of the Italian option.
5 - Mejni prehod Rožna Dolina
In 1947, following the peace treaties of Paris and two years after the Allied Military Government was established, the new border line between Italy and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Socijalistička Federativna Republika Jugoslavija, SFRY) was defined. The Pass of Casa Rossa - Rožna Dolina (Red House) became the first and most important international crossing between the two countries, and until 1955 (Udine Agreement), the border appeared almost impassable: crossing was allowed almost exclusively for farmers who had properties on the "other side" and were in possession of a farming permit. The "no man's land", the space between the two custom houses, was soon to became a place of contact between those who chose to live in Yugoslavia and those who decided to stay in Italy: Casa Rossa became the symbolic place of division par excellence, but also of contact. The establishment of the new border made life particularly difficult for those who had decided to remain in Yugoslavia, as they suddenly found themselves without an urban centre to serve as a reference point for the purchase and sale of all kinds of goods. The exasperation of the population to such a situation arose suddenly and unexpectedly on the 13th of August 1950, when a crowd of Yugoslav citizens crossed the Pass of the Casa Rossa without showing the valid documents. It seems that people began to assemble following the false announcement that the border was to be reopened on that day, an event which in reality did not occur. However, this prompted a largely peaceful demonstration of strength without major repercussions for public order, and the day was called the "Sunday of Brooms": a high number of those who broke through the roadblock were motivated by the need to stock-up on some basic necessities, which had become almost impossible to find, such as sorghum brooms. For the population of the district Gorizia this was also a way to reclaim symbolically, for a day, the old city centre which had always been their reference point. In the mid-fifties, after the introduction of the propusnica (a sort of permit), a slow and gradual détente began, making the border more and more permeable. On the 25th of June 1991, Slovenia declared its independence from Yugoslavia. A brief conflict followed: this is the first time since the end of World War II that a war is raging in Europe and brings the fight to the Passes of Casa Rossa in Gorizia and Fernetti in Trieste. For a few days the local population heard the bombings, and the operation leading Slovenian soldiers to conquer the Gorizian pass left 5 dead, 36 wounded and 3 exploded tanks.
6 - Valico del Rafut
The Allies were often intransigent when in 1947 they defined the border line in chalk. At the end of via Rafut, the border line, which runs parallel to the railroad tracks near the Transalpine, harshly divided a community which was nationally and linguistically mixed. In some cases, the line separated houses from fields, barns and stables to which they were connected. Many people found themselves having to leave their properties behind when they chose one country ahead of the other. Only after the Treaty of Osimo in 1975 was it possible to slightly modify the line and re-join the properties that had been previously divided.
7 - Kostanjeviška Cesta
Over the hill, a few hundred metres from this point, the Monastery of Castagnevizza, which had been converted during the Fascist period into a women’s prison, dominates the view. From 1947, the border line ran a few metres away from the convent, and the attempts to cross the fence illegally were quite numerous. Border posts were, as a matter of fact, places of contact and exchange, more or less legal, of people and goods. Often people tried to send ‘to the other side’ little things, necessary for the daily life of families, but at that point impossible to find after the separation from the urban centre. Sometimes this was outright smuggling.
8 - Piazzale della Transalpina
Piazzale della Transalpina takes its name from the Transalpina railway station which was inaugurated in 1906 by the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to connect Trieste with Jesenice and Central Europe. At the beginning of the century, the northern station of the city facilitated the arrival of tourists attracted by the mild climate of the "Austrian Nice". After the First World War - during which the railway line was used for supplies of weapons and soldiers - Gorizia was annexed to Italy, and the Transalpina station lost its fundamental role of connection to the heart of Europe. In 1947, after the end of World War II and after two years of Anglo-American administration, the Paris Peace Treaties established that the square would be crossed by the new border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The 'French line' divided the centre of the city from Salcano and from the north-eastern county. The image of the allied soldiers marking the new border line with white chalk was deeply set into the memory of the Gorizians, who found themselves having to coexist with a suddenly divided territory. Episodes of houses separated from their own field, farm or barn were not at all rare. Within a few months the people had to choose which country to opt for: in this decision, the political and ideological reasons were to be added to economic, work and family-related issues. Many were forced to separate from their families, to give up life plans or to leave their houses or their jobs. It was a critical choice: at least up until the Udine Agreement in 1955, it was only possible to cross the border with a special agricultural permit. Piazza della Transalpina became the place of contact, both physical and symbolic, between the two sides of the border. For many years, the only things able to cross the fence, strictly guarded by the border guards, were quick glances, short sentences and a few packages thrown over it. On the front of the station a red star and the words "Mi gradimo socijalizam"(We build socialism) in Slovenian soon appeared. On the 1st of May 2004, the day of Slovenia’s entry into the European Union, the green fence that had separated Gorizia from Nova Gorica for more than 50 years was torn down and the square regained its unitary character, across two states.
9 - Trg Evrope
On July the 23rd 1906, the second station of Gorizia, situated in the norther part of the city, is inaugurated. The southern station – nowadays the central station – had already been built in the second half of the 19th century and it connected Venezia with Trieste. The aim of the Transalpina line, on the other hand, was to improve the connections between the port of Trieste, Austria and Czechoslovakia. The objective of the Imperial Railways of the Austrian State was to be in competition with the private company Südbahn which managed, with quite high fares, the Trieste-Vienna route. Initially, the northern station of Gorizia is called Görz Staatsbahnhof, meaning 'Gorizia National Railway Station'. During the First World War, due to its proximity to the frontline, the station is employed for war supplies, and is severely damaged by the bombings. The square in front of the station is designed between the two wars by one of the most representative architects of early nineteenth-century Gorizia: Max Fabiani. After the handing over to Italy, in 1918 the building is reconstructed using the original designs. It is named Gorizia Nord (Gorizia North), and renamed Gorizia Montesanto in 1923. The station plays a fundamental role in the Second World War, too. Initially, after the occupation of Yugoslavia, it is used to transport personnel and equipment to the various frontlines of the War, but after the Nazi occupation of 1943 it is also used as a connection point for trains connecting the Risiera St. Sabba with the concentration camps in Central Europe. In 1947, after two years of Allied Military Government, the new border is defined: the eastern territories of the province of Gorizia, the eastern districts of the capital and the path of the Transalpina between Piedicolle and Villa Opicina went to Yugoslavia, and the square was divided in half by the barbed wire that separated Gorizia from what would become, in the following years, Nova Gorica. On the roof of the station a red star soon appeared, a symbol of the dawning socialism of which the new town was supposed to be the best example. The junction with the southern station Udine-Trieste was stopped at the border near the station of Gorizia San Marco (Vrtojba), which was in the Yugoslav territory. In 2004, following the entry of Slovenia into the European Union, the square regains its unitary character while maintaining a double name: Piazzale della Transalpina in Italy and Trg Evrope in Slovenia. At the centre of the area, in place of the green fence and of the boundary stone, a circular mosaic floor, chosen through an international art competition, is placed: the designer of the work is the artist Franco Vecchiet of Trieste. The mosaic is integrated by two plates, one placed in the Slovenian side and the other on the Italian side, bearing the words "mosaic of the new Europe."
10 - Bevkov Trg
Nova Gorica, which developed in the area previously occupied by the old cemetery of Gorizia, was established in 1948, a few months after the definition of the new border. The first project of the socialist city, which was to “shine” across the border, was designed by the architect Edvard Ravnikar, who offered a rationalist approach inspired by Le Corbusier. Many young people from all over Yugoslavia, called “mladinici”, were involved in the construction of the new city centre, which was meant to become the administrative core of the recently annexed area. The first buildings to be constructed were the so-called “ruski bloki”, six blocks of houses lined along a main road, and the building of the people’s committee (today the Town Hall), built on a project by the architect Vinko Glanz in 1953.