KArlo Franceschin, who has long been buried and buried, found herself from one day to the next to rest with her head in Italy and the feet in Yugoslavia. If there is a place that contains the sense of a journey, an exact point that represents the ideal synthesis of a trip on foot, well Miren’s cemetery – small Slovenian village at the gates of Italy – is the locus loci of the Goritiense process, the Gorizian journey.
Gorizian journey, trekking between Italy and Slovenia
About halfway of this new itinerary that was born in Aquileia to land in the steep climb of Sveta Gora, enter this cemetery and cross the story. Here, one morning in mid -September 1947, a line of white paint, traced by zealous men in uniform, divided the tomb of the unsuspecting Franceschin in two, and with it the whole of Europe: it was the new border designed on the maps a few months earlier at the Peace Conference in Paris. The West on the one hand, the Europe of the East on the other, the insurmountable iron curtain traced in Paris on maps at 25,000 and reported on the ground with obtuse precision: those who were four millimeters on paper became 100 meters on the ground.
Divided by history
The photo symbol of those days is a “cut” cow in two from that brush hand: because in Gorizia, where this third stage of the journey will end, the border was traced right in the middle of the property of the Zoff family, the house in Italy and the stable in Yugoslavia. And in this cemetery the tombs of the Faganeli family were also divided by the white line, some deceased to rest here, the other relatives beyond. And, walking along the red tiles that today reproduce that frontier to remember what has been, fully grab the sense of a path that defines itself as cross -border, a project born to celebrate Gorizia-Nova Gorica European Capital of Culture 2025 but above all to convey a message of hope and reconciliationto put the steps in a land marked by wars, deportations and by the assensted coming and going of the borders.
The Basilica of Aquileia, the starting point of the Gorizian journey. Photo Gettyimages.
Following the passages of the ancient Romans on the Gorizia journey
But let’s go back to the starting point. Just over 80 kilometers and not a few meters in altitude to travel in four stages, the Gorizian journey was born from the extraordinary basilica of Aquileiaprobably the oldest place of Christian public worship in the world. Cradle of spirituality and European culture, which has always been a crossroads of peoples of all origins, Aquileia was the second port of the Roman Empire, a nerve center of almost one hundred thousand inhabitants. The journey takes along the Via Sacra and enters the hearts of an ordered and flat countryside that smells of the sea. On these paths that lead to the church of San Lorenzo Martire di Fiumicello it is easy to meet the parents of Giulio Regeni: “We walk this stretch almost every day – explains Mamma Paola – on foot or by bicycle, and perhaps this is our secret of resilience, which everyone attributes us”. In the small chapel of San Lorenzo Giulio was baptized “and here we brought his body back from Egypt, for a moment of intimate encounter, just for us”. Roots, scars, rebirth are the thematic traits of this path.
The Railway Bridge of Salcano, on the Isonzo river. Photo Gettyimages.
The message of the Isonzo
In the middle of the stage, the first encounter with the majesty of the Isonzo that with its incredible colors flows slowly towards the Gulf of Trieste, bringing with its waters a history of bloody wars and a message of renewal and regeneration. After a stop in San Canziano at the Memorial of three young martyrs -the saints of the waters -, the path resumes the embankment of the great river: a beautiful cycle and pedestrian immersed in a forest of maples, honors, ashs and carpini accompanies you to the festival, term (after 28 kilometers) of this first stage.
Hikers at the 1948 guard tower, in Slovenia, near Vrojba, close to the former Italian-Juoslav border. Photo by Mattia Vecchi.
On the plateau celebrated by Ungaretti
The Karst is the protagonist of the second stage of the Gorizian journey. You go up to the plateau immersed in dense vegetation, accompanied by the bushes of Scotano, the fog tree, They can be seen in the green trenches, grenade holes, split stones, signs of memory of the First World War. The forest opens suddenly in a small clearing to leave room for the imposing monument dedicated “to the heroic fighter” Filippo Corridoni. Walk in history, of unlit married people in distant landsyoung people sent to fight and dispersed forever, families returned to the country that no longer existed. In San Martino del Carso, at the crossroads, there are the words of Giuseppe Ungaretti to remember it: “Of these houses/ it has not remained/ that some/ shred of the wall …”. These lands, where the poet passed very long months in the trenches, on the morning of June 29, 1916 they were invaded by the Venetosi gases fired by the Hungarians, in five thousand died in a few hours. “It is my most torn heart/ country.” Go up again at the slow rhythm of his verses, up to the top of Monte San Michele where the panorama opens to the infinity. The Italians took it on the night of San Lorenzo of that same year, and in front of this view finally open Ungaretti noted two words on a sheet: “I enlighten me of immense”.
The peace monument of Cerje, in Slovenia. Photo Alamy/IPA.
Gorizian journey, the memory of the Karst
Go down on the other side of the plateau is like going from war to the post -war period, and warning the same senselessness. Lokanda Devetak is still in Italy but, inside, Slovenian is spoken. Tjaša explains that her family has always been there: «We were Austro -Hungarian, then Italians, fascists with the ban on speaking our language, then Yugoslavs, still Italian, today European. Busted from there and here from the border without ever moving from one meter ». Return to the woods and between a beech and an oak you are in Slovenia without knowing where you have crossed the old iron curtain: the Karst unites. The climb is long and thrown from the wind to the peace monument of Cerje, a seven floors of stone tower erected in memory of the Slovenian soil defenders: inside a starry sky reproduced as the night of independence was, December 26, ’91, outside A view that takes away the breath, from the sea of Trieste to the Julian Alps. After a steep descent, the stage ends at the Sanctuary of Mirenski Grad.
The church of Sant’Ignazio, in Gorizia. Photo Alamy/IPA.
Gorizia and Nova Gorica, different twins
The village of Miren (Merna in Italian), lying on the green banks of the vipacco, and its historic cemetery are at the beginning of the third stage. After another dozen kilometers on Slovenian land, you enter Gorizia Just in front of the Basaglia park, where the psychiatrist completed his revolution by breaking down another border, the wall that divided the madmen from the healthy. The last day is a continuous errone between the two sister cities, this year the European capital of culture. Gorizia kidnaps you with the elegance of its buildings (the Nice of Austria, it was said in the 1800s), the Habsburg system, the squares, the village of the castle, the church of Sant’Ignazio, the suggestive church of San Giovanni Battistapastoral center of the Slovenian Christian community, and the ancient ghetto with the beautiful synagogue. Nova Gorica, on the other hand, is the daughter of the building of the 60s and 70s because the border traced in ’47 left a good part of the original city in Italy, in Yugoslavia the contacts and few peripheral areas. But a great vitality is perceived to walk in this Slovenian part, cultural fervor palpable, many young people and families with children (while in Gorizia the average age is 50 years, the highest in Italy and perhaps in Europe).
The railway station in Piazza Transalpina; In the center the album that reports the ancient border between Gorizia and Nova Gorica. Photo Alamy/IPA.
In the square, between the two cities
Piazza Transalpina is the real point of union between the two cities, with the beautiful station of the early 1900s and the large area in front: where the border wall ran today a round plaque celebrates the newfound unit While the legendary confinement 5715 has only been moved a little further on. The path leads to a double spectacular crossing of the Isonzo just where the tiring final climb begins, about seven kilometers without breath up to the sanctuary of Sveta Gora Where, in 1539, Maria appeared to the shepherd Urška Ferligoj: “I ‘to build a house here and pray to pray to have my mercy”. Just turn around, resume breath and enclose the road traveled in a look: If the air is clear you can see the bell tower of the Basilica of Aquileia, and Grado, the Adriatic, the Tower of Monfalcone, the plain, the Karst. And the two sister cities, no longer divided: because there are no boundaries from up here.
Sleeping and eating on the Gorizian journey
The route was designed to be completed in 4 days, but obviously it can be carried out in more time, finding welcome for rest in the countries touched by the journey. Stages, descriptions and GPS tracks to download on: itergoritiense.eu/it
Hotel Patriarchi Via Giulia Augusta, 12, Aquileia. A few meters from the basilica, the restaurant’s cuisine is excellent: to try Cjarsôns and Frico. Single 65 euros, double 106 euros. visitaquileia.com/it/hotel-patriarchi
Festival Agriturismo Le Ginine Via dei Campi, 4, Fogliano Redipuglia (Gorizia). One kilometer from the arrival of the first stage, a beautiful company that produces an excellent wine. Double with breakfast 100 euros, single 50 euros. agriturismoletlegiarine.it
Lokanda Devetak 1870 Via, Brežiči, 22, San Michele del Carso. Mythical place to eat (all homemade), sleep and above all understand these lands. Double from 85 euros. Devetak.com
House Gnidovec Miren 216, Mirenski Grad. Hostel with individuals, double and dormitories, bathrooms in common. Room with breakfast and dinner 33 euros. Mirenski-gra.si/it
Betta penthouse Via Roma 26, Gorizia. Large apartment with every comfort, in the center.
From 55 euros in double. Facebook.com/AtticeDabetta
Mir Center in Dobro (peace and good) Sveta Gora 6, Solkan. Just renovated hostel with double. 24 euros in the Camerata.
Svetagora.si/enter-mir-in-dobro
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