Šmartno, Gonjače, St. Florian/Steverjan and Nova Gorica

After our hearty meal, we traveled around the Brda area, which is a wine growing region on the Italian border. The countryside is hilly, lush and green. No land is wasted - something productive occupies every plot. Dense stands of trees border the fields and terraced vineyards grow on hillsides. Flowers line the roads and spill out of window boxes. Why would anyone leave this paradise?

Petra's commentary answered those questions. Small roads, built by the Italians to move munitions during World War I, were everywhere - if you didn't know your way around, you could get lost. In each village were vacant spaces where a church, school or a home had been - shelled and never rebuilt. There were also plaques, signs, statues and memorials to those lost in both World Wars. Many of these communities have rebuilt after centuries of conflicts. Šmartno is one such town.

Šmartno is an the architectural jewel built on Roman foundations, and a former medieval military fortress on the Italian border. The walled village with five towers sits on a panoramic hill, perfect for observing any approaching armies. Today Šmartno is a renovated village and one of the most beautiful cultural monuments in Slovenia.

 Fortress in the city of Smartno

The town of Gonjače is at the top of another hill. Here is the bronze monument dedicated to the 315 citizens of Brda who gave their lives in WWII. The tower at Gonjače has 144 stairs which bring you to the breathtaking view of  the Julian and Carnian Alps, the Friulian plain to the West, the Trieste Gulf to the South, and the Vipava Valley to the east.

 

Lookout tower and World War II
memorial at Gonjače

The village of St. Florian is now in Italy (although only Slovenes live there) and is known as Števerjan. The church of St. Floriano was badly damaged by shells during World War I and painstakingly rebuilt. The region also suffered greatly during World War II. A monument adjacent to the church was dedicated in 1946 and honors those who died at home, in Italy, in concentration camps, or in partisan divisions.

 

Church of St. Floriano in Steverjan

Monument to the brave citizens of World War II in Steverjan
Both photos by Dejan Valentincic

The town of Nova Gorica is a microcosm of an area that has been shaped by conflict. Before World War II, farmers from the surrounding villages took their produce to sell in the "big" market in Gorica. The town of Gorica was given to Italy after the war and spelled Gorizia. In 1947, Communists constructed Nova "New" Gorica in Slovenia. The train station says it all: on one side of the station is Gorizia, Italy, and on the other side is Nova Gorica, Slovenia.

 

Train station in Nova Gorica and Gorizia