Gorizia was first recorded in 1001 AD when Emperor Otto III donated the village and castle to the Patriarch of Aquileia. Over centuries, Gorizia grew under rule of different powers, including the Hasburgs in 1500 and incorporation into French and Austrian territories at different times. In World War I, Italy gained control of Gorizia in 1916. After the war, Gorizia was officially annexed to Italy but lost surrounding areas to Yugoslavia in 1947, with the national border drawn just outside the town center. Today, Gorizia remains divided from neighboring Nova Gorica in Slovenia by the legacy of this border.

1. GORIZIA
A town with a thousand shades

2. The origins
The first time when Gorizia was recorded in a
document was around the year 1001 A.C. in which
emperor Otto III of the Holy Roman Empire donated
a castle and the village of Gorizia to the Patriarch of
Aquileia John II and to Count Verihen Eppenstein of
Friuli .
From the 11th century, the town had two different
layers of development :the upper castle district and
the village near it. The first played a political and
administrative role and the second a rural-
commercial role.

3. The castle of Gorizia.

4. The Hasburg occupation
In 1500, the dynasty of the counts of Gorizia died and the country
passed to Austrian Hasburg rule, after a short occupation by the
Republic of Venice in the years 1508 and 1509.During the time of
the Austrian Gorizia grew into a multi-ethnic town, in which the
Friulan, Venetian, German and Slovene language were spoken.

5. The Napoleonic Wars
During this period, Gorizia was incorporated in the French Illyrian
Provinces between 1809 and 1813.After the restoration of the
Austrian rule, Gorizia and its county were incorporated in the
administrative unit known as the Kingdom of Illyria. During this
period, Gorizia emerged as a popular summer residence of the
Austrian nobility.

6. World War I
Gorizia was not on the frontline during the first 10 months of war.
Italy entered World War I on the Allied side and the conflict with
Austria-Hungary began on 24 May 1915. The Italian Army conquered
Gorizia during the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo in August 1916.
Gorizia was added to Italy in 1918.

7. First annexation to Italy
In the first years of Italian administration, Gorizia was
included in the Governorate of the Julian March. In 1920,
the town and the whole region became officially part of
Italy. The autnomous 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 the Julian
March adiministrative region. During the fascist regime, all
Slovene organizations were dissolved and the public use of
Slovene language was prohibited.

8. Partition and second annexation to Italy
On September 15, 1947, the town was incorporated into Italy again.
Several peripherical districts of the Gorizia municipality were handed
over to the Yugoslavia, together with the vast majority of the former
Province of Gorizia. Around a 20% of the pre-war area of the
municipality of Gorizia were annexed to Yugoslavia. The national
border was drawn just off the town centre, putting Gorizia into a
peripheral zone. In 1948, the authorities of the Socialist Republic of
Slovenia started building a new town called “Nova Gorica" ("New
Gorizia") on their side of the border.

9. Gorizia 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 December 21, 2007.

10. Gorizia 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 December 21, 2007.