Gradisca d'Isonzo, Italy Part one of two
Gradisca is a member of the organisation of the most attractive towns in Italy and when you arrive in the main square you will see that this little town of some 6,500 people located 12km from the regional capital of Gorizia has so much to offer.
My first view of Gradisca was in an usual way. I crossed the Isonzo river over the narrow bridge to the east of the town on my bicycle which afforded views over the river with its almost turquoise colour and the walls of the Venetian fortifications of the town. Others will come in other directions, if by car no doubt via the main road from Gorizia, Udine or Venice or perhaps by motorhome, in which case one can park it at the motorhome parking space allocated at via Trieste 40.
Throughout the following article, I shall refer to Gradisca as a town, as it seems strange to refer to a place with 6,500 inhabitants as a city - but it is a city and has enjoyed this right for many centuries and has its own cathedral.
The name of the town is clearly linked to the word for fortification - compare, for example, Hrad in Czech meaning fort. So the meaning is probably fort on a hill although the hill is not very high. Beyond Gradisca to the east we have the Karst and to the north we have views of the Julian Alps. This geography suited the growth of Gradisca as it was on a trade route through the mountains at the same time as being protected by the fast flowing and wide Isonzo river.
In 1420 the town became part of the Republic of Venice which gave us many of the monuments we see today such as the castle which was largely meant to be an outpost against Ottoman attacks. The fortifications were initially built between 1476 and 1498, in places they were twenty metres high. The water of the Isonzo was directed into a moat around Gradisca whilst turrets completed the defences. In 1500, Leonardo da Vinci was hired by the Venetian Senate to make additions to the defences.
However this was to no avail. In 1511, Gradisca was captured by the Habsburgs and later it became part of the Eggenberg family possession although always under the tutelage of the Habsburgs. From 1615 - 1617, the Venetians attempted to recapture the city but failed.
During the Habsburg and Eggenberg era, Gradisca gradually became less military and more of a residential area for wealthy people. Some of the palaces we see today were built then as was the baroque cathedral of Peter and Paul (Pietro e Paolo).
In 1855, as in many places where the city walls stopped the growth of the town, some of the fortifications were torn down - although fortunately much was left for us to appreciate today.
A few days after Italy's invasion of Austria-Hungary in WW1, Gradisca was captured. It lay only around 25km from the Italian border. Nonetheless it became a town almost on the front line. Austrian positions above the town gave a clear view as to what was happening there and the Isonzo river became the scene of twelve very bloody battles, eleven of which were near Gradisca. The town was recaptured by Austria-Hungary after the Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 although the following year it was retaken again by Italy as the war was ending. On 6 January 1921, it was annexed by Italy.
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Top 10 Best Things to do in Gorizia, Italy
Gorizia Travel Guide. MUST WATCH. Top 10 things you have to do in Gorizia . We have sorted Tourist Attractions in Gorizia for You. Discover Gorizia as per the Traveller Resources given by our Travel Specialists. You will not miss any fun thing to do in Gorizia .
This Video has covered top 10 Best Things to do in Gorizia .
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List of Best Things to do in Gorizia , Italy
Museo della Grande Guerra
Castello di Gorizia
Parco Viatori / Giardino Delle Azalee
Palazzo Coronini Cronberg
Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio
Via Rastello
Duomo di Gorizia
Bosco Romagno
Casino Perla
Sinagoga Ebraica
Top 10 Best Things To Do in Cormons, Italy
Cormons Travel Guide. MUST WATCH. Top 10 things you have to do in Cormons. We have sorted Tourist Attractions in Cormons for You. Discover Cormons as per the Traveler Resources given by our Travel Specialists. You will not miss any fun thing to do in Cormons.
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List of Best Things to do in Cormons, Italy
Azienda Agricola Zoff
Weingut Edi Keber
Ara Pacis Mundi di Medea
Duomo di Sant’Adalberto
Weingut Franco Toros
Santuario Maria Santissima Rosa Mistica
Renato Keber
Angoris
Castello del Monte Quarin
Weingut Ronco Del Gelso
Gradisca d'Isonzo pearl of Italian Baroque: Via Antonio Bergamas street
One more reason to visit Gradisca on Isonzo, the Pearl of Italian Baroque, in Friuli Venezia Giulia region, far north east in Italy.
Gradisca benefits from a magnificent geographical location, the perfect hub to visit the Collio (9 km), the beaches of the Gulf of Trieste (22 km) Slovenia Nova Gorica (16 km) and the historical paths of the Great War 1915 on Gorizia Karst ( 2 km).
Lively and hospitable city with travelers, animated by historical cafes and trendy bars, day and night, is the ideal place to stay and on which to base for wonderful excursions. The city of Trieste is 45 km, TRS Trieste Airport 15 km, Venice Old Town 115 km, Venice Marco Polo Airport 108 km.
Gradisca on Isonzo pearl of Italian Baroque: XV sec. Medieval Gate (Porta Nuova)
One more reason to visit Gradisca on Isonzo, the Pearl of Italian Baroque, in Friuli Venezia Giulia region, far north east in Italy.
Gradisca benefits from a magnificent geographical location, the perfect hub to visit the Collio (9 km), the beaches of the Gulf of Trieste (22 km) Slovenia Nova Gorica (16 km) and the historical paths of the Great War 1915 on Gorizia Karst ( 2 km).
Lively and hospitable city with travelers, animated by historical cafes and trendy bars, day and night, is the ideal place to stay and on which to base for wonderful excursions. The city of Trieste is 45 km, TRS Trieste Airport 11 km, Venice Old Town 115 km, Venice Marco Polo Airport 108 km.
Gradisca on Isonzo pearl of Italian Baroque: Via Marziano Ciotti street
One more reason to visit Gradisca on Isonzo, the Pearl of Italian Baroque, in Friuli Venezia Giulia region, far north east in Italy.
Gradisca benefits from a magnificent geographical location, the perfect hub to visit the Collio (9 km), the beaches of the Gulf of Trieste (22 km) Slovenia Nova Gorica (16 km) and the historical paths of the Great War 1915 on Gorizia Karst ( 2 km).
Lively and hospitable city with travelers, animated by historical cafes and trendy bars, day and night, is the ideal place to stay and on which to base for wonderful excursions. The city of Trieste is 45 km, TRS Trieste Airport 15 km, Venice Old Town 115 km, Venice Marco Polo Airport 108 km.
Hotel La Gradisca, Rimini, Italy
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WW1 battlefield : Castelnuovo on the Carso Plateau, Italy
Castelnuovo is located on the Karst (Carso) Plateau close to the town of Gradisca d'Isonzo. It would be fair to say that this marks the beginning of the Julian Alps.
Owing to the difficult approach through low and narrow bridges, I left my van at Redipuglia and continued by bicycle which was very strenuous!
The Carso Plateau was the scene of fighting over a two and a half years with the Italians making slow advances at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives over the first eleven battles of the Isonzo only to have to give it all up at no cost after being outflanked at the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo.
We can see in this film the rebuilt Castelnuovo country house and the park which is named after Italian war poet Giuseppe Ungaretti. The house became a HQ building during the fighting on the Carso and there are photographs with the king of Italy and various Allied generals at this location.
We can also see remains of nearby trench lines which have survived 100 years.
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The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - FULL VIDEO TOUR (Rome, Italy)
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Rome, part of the Altare della Patria. They were pretty serious about guarding this guy 24/7 with armed weapons... I saw them warn a few people about getting too close. It's strange as the solider was picked at random (and also unknown), but I guess it's the principle of the matter and the deeper meaning of it all! The statue is of he goddess Roma.
The Altare della Patria ([alˈtaːre della ˈpaːtrja]; English: Altar of the Fatherland), also known as the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) or Il Vittoriano, is a monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill.
The eclectic structure was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli.[1] It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925.[2]
The Vittoriano features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height reaches 81 m (266 ft).[2] It has a total area of 17,000 square metres.
The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Unification.[2][3] In 2007, a panoramic lift was added to the structure, allowing visitors to ride up to the roof for 360 degree views of Rome.
The monument holds the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with an eternal flame, built under the statue of goddess Roma after World War I following an idea of General Giulio Douhet. The body of the unknown soldier was chosen on 26 October 1921 from among 11 unknown remains by Maria Bergamas, a woman from Gradisca d'Isonzo whose only child was killed during World War I. Her son's body was never recovered. The selected unknown was transferred from Aquileia, where the ceremony with Bergamas had taken place, to Rome and buried in a state funeral on 4 November 1921.
Address: Piazza Venezia, 00186 Roma, Italy
Height: 230′
Opened: 1925
Phone: +39 06 678 0664
Video Title: The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - FULL VIDEO TOUR (Rome, Italy)
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Around Rome : Sicily to Ukraine by camper van part 28
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This film shows part of the ring road around Rome as I travel from the south heading towards the general direction of Perugia. As can be seen, the road quality is much better than it is around many other cities in Italy! Whilst driving I mention a brief history of motorway networks as well as my fuel consumption.
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My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects.
Please feel free to ask questions in the public area or to comment on things you disagree with. Sometimes there are mistakes because I speak without preparation. If I see the mistakes myself, I make this clear in the text. Please also leave a star rating!
I am very fortunate that I can spend a large part of my life travelling, thanks to the business I chose to run which allows me to do this. There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers.
Most people may think packaging pretty boring but it possibly effects your life more than you really imagine!
Central and Eastern European Packaging examines the packaging industry throughout this region, but in particular in the largest regional economies which are Russia, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Austria. That is not to say that the other countries are forgotten, they are not, but obviously there is less going on. However the fact that there are so many travel related films here is not from holidays but from business trips attending trade fairs around the region. Every packaging trade fair is a new excuse to make another film!