Theme Week Friuli Venezia Giulia – Gorizia

23 December 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, European Capital of Culture Reading Time:  20 minutes

Gorizia and the castle © T137

Gorizia and the castle © T137

Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It was the capital of the former 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 modern-day Italian–Slovenian border. The entire region was subject to territorial dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia after World War II: after the new boundaries were established in 1947 and the old town was left to Italy, Nova Gorica was built on the Yugoslav side. Taken together, the two towns constitute a conurbation, which also includes the Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba. Since May 2011, these three towns have been joined in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board. The name of the town comes from the Slovene word gorica ‘little hill’, which is a very common toponym in Slovene-inhabited areas. In 2025 both cities will be the European Capital of Culture together as one.   read more…

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