GORIZIA and surrounding places of interest

War routes

A small distance from Gradisca the Isonzo Karst still bears the scars of the 29 months of war ( 1915-1918), with trenches, excavated passages and tunnels that criss cross the area well known for the battles fought there. A point of departure for one of the itineraries that takes you across this landscape is Redipuglia, universally renowned for its cemetery where the bodies of 100,000 soldiers who fell during World War I are buried. The majestic stairway with its 22 terraces takes you up the hill, which is close to Mount Sei Busi where many battles were fought. It symbolically represents both a powerful and perfect formation of the entire unit of 100,000 soldiers. At the top of the hill, with wonderful panoramic views. there is an observatory from which, with the help of a relief model, one can pinpoint the places linked to the historical events that caused the death of those who rest here. The road takes you on to San Martino del Carso, a village which was completely destroyed during the war, and to Monte San Michele, an important strong point for the Austro-Hungarian army which was eventually captured by the Italians, but only after persistent violent attacks. On the Monte San Michele, as at Redipuglia, there is an interesting History Museum.

If one continues, crossing the river Isonzo, one reaches Monte Calvario and then the Sacrario di Oslavia (Oslavia cemetery) where the mortal remains of tens of thousands of soldiers fallen during the First World War, have been laid to rest. In Gorizia, a city particulary affected by the war, relics of that devastating period are collected in an underground museum housed in eleven basement rooms of the Dornburg and Tasso houses, inside the castle village. The museum of the "Grande Guerra" (Great War), reorganised in 1990, does not wish to be a mere exhibition of arms and relics but tries to recount the war linking the exhibits with the historic places and to explain the international, national and local repercussions.