Gorizia

History of Gorizia
Middle Ages

Originating as a watchtower or a prehistoric castle controlling the fords of the river Isonzo, Gorizia first emerged as a small village not far from the former Via Gemina, the Roman road linking Aquileia and Emona (the modern Ljubljana). The name of Gorizia was recorded for the first time in a document dated April 28, 1001, in which the Holy Roman Emperor Otto III donated the castle and the village of Goriza to the Patriarch of Aquileia John II and to Count Verihen Eppenstein of Friuli. The document referred to Gorizia as "the village known as Goriza in the language of the Slavs" ("Villa quae Sclavorum lingua vocatur Goriza").
The medieval center of Gorizia
Count Meinhard of the Bavarian Meinhardiner noble lineage, with possessions around Lienz in Tyrol, is mentioned as early as 1107; as a vogt of the Patriarchate of Aquileia he was enfeoffed with large estates in the former March of Friuli, including the town of Gorizia, and as early as 1127 called himself Graf von Görz. The borders of the county changed frequently in the following four centuries due to frequent wars with Aquileia and other counties, and also to the subdivision of the territory in two main nuclei: one around the upper Drava near Lienz, the other centered on Gorizia itself. Between the 12th century and early 16th century, the town served as the political and administrative centre of this essentially independent County of Gorizia, which at the height of its power comprised the territory of the present-day regions of Goriška, south-east Friuli, the Kras plateau, central Istria and East Tyrol.

From the 11th century, the town had two different layers of development: the upper castle district and the village beneath it. The first played a political-administrative role and the second a rural-commercial role.

Habsburg rule

In 1500, the dynasty of the Counts of Gorizia died out and their County passed to Austrian Habsburg rule, after a short occupation by the Republic of Venice in the years 1508 and 1509. Under Habsburg dominion, the town spread out at the foot of the castle. Many settlers from northern Italy moved there and started their commerce. Gorizia developed into a multi-ethnic town, in which Friulian, Venetian, German and Slovene language was spoken.

In mid-16th century, Gorizia emerged as a centre of Protestant Reformation, which was spreading from the neighbouring north-eastern regions of Carniola and Carinthia. The prominent Slovene Protestant preacher Primož Trubar also visited and preached in the town. By the end of the century, however, Catholic Counter-Reformation had gained force in Gorizia, led by the local dean Janez Tavčar, who later became bishop of Ljubljana. Tavčar was also instrumental in bringing the Jesuit order to the town, which played an important role in the education and cultural life in Gorizia thereafter.

Gorizia was at first part of the County of Görz and since 1754, the capital of the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca. Regarding ecclesiastical matters, after the suppression of the Patriarchate of Aquileia in 1751, the Archdiocese of Gorizia was established as its legal successor on the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy. Gorizia thus emerged as an important Roman Catholic religious centre: the archdiocese of Gorizia extended over a large territory extending to the Drava river to the north and the Kolpa to the east, with the dioceses of Trieste, Trento, Como and Pedena subject to the authority of the archbishops of Gorizia. A new town quarter developed around the Cathedral where many treasures from the Basilica of Aquileia were transferred. Many new villas were built conveying to the town the typical late Baroque appearance, which characterized it up to World War I. A synagogue was built within the town walls, too, which was another example of Gorizia's relatively tolerant multi-ethnic nature.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Gorizia was incorporated to the French Illyrian Provinces between 1809 and 1813. After the restoration of the Austrian rule, the 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, and became known as the "Austrian Nice". Members of the former French ruling Bourbon family, deposed by the July Revolution of 1830, also settled in the town, including the last Bourbon monarch Charles X who spent his last years in Gorizia. Unlike in most neighbouring areas, the revolutionary spring of nations of 1848 passed almost unnoticed in Gorizia, thus reaffirming its reputation of a calm and loyal provincial town.

Gorizia at the beginning of the 20th century
In 1849, the County of Gorizia was included in the Austrian Littoral, along with Trieste and Istria. In 1861, the territory was reorganized as the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca and granted a high degree of regional autonomy. At the time, Gorizia was a multiethnic town: Italian and Venetian, Slovene, Friulian and German were spoken in the town centre, while in the suburbs Slovene and Friulian prevailed. Although some tensions between the Italian-Friulian and the Slovene population were registered, the town continued to maintain a relatively tolerant climate, in which both Slovene and Italian-Friulian culture flourished, until World War I.

At the eve of World War I, Gorizia had around 31,000 inhabitants and was thus the 3rd largest town in the Austrian Littoral, after Trieste and Pula (Pola). Another 14,000 people lived in the suburbs, making it among the most populous urban agglomerations in the Alpe-Adria area, ahead of Klagenfurt, Maribor, Salzburg, Bolzano or Trento. Within the city limits, around 48% of the population was Italian or Friulian speaking, against a 35% of Slovene speakers. In the suburbs, the Slovene speakers prevailed, with a 77% against a 21% of Italian/Friulian speakers.