GORIŠKI GRAD / THE CASTLE

SLO

Na griču, ki se dviga nad mestom in ponuja čudovit razgled na širšo okolico, stoji goriški grad – srce najstarejšega dela Gorice. Prav po tem griču, takrat poraslem z vinsko trto, je naselje tudi dobilo ime. Prva pisna omemba naselja sega v leto 1001, ko je cesar Svetega rimskega cesarstva Oton III. oglejskemu patriarhu podaril tukajšnjo zemljo. V listini piše: "Villa quae Sclavorum lingua vocatur Goriza", kar pomeni, da se naselje v jeziku Slovanov imenuje Gorica.

Leta 1125 se prvič omenjajo goriški grofje, ki so kasneje imeli glavno domovanje v bližini Lienza na Tirolskem, kjer še danes stoji grad podoben goriškemu gradu v svoji izvirni obliki. Ta nemška plemiška rodbina je postala ena najmočnejših v regiji in je vladala nad Goriško, ki je takrat segala od Tirolske do Istre, vse do leta 1500, ko je z zadnjim grofom Lenartom izumrla.

Grad, zgrajen v 11. stoletju, je bil skozi stoletja večkrat predelan. V 17. in 18. stoletju je bil grad preurejen v vojašnico in zapor. Zgrajeni so bili novi obrambni zidovi, pri čemer je sodeloval tudi slavni astronom in matematik Edmond Halley – odkritelj Halleyjevega kometa.

~ 1910 - Gorica pod Avstro-Ogrsko monarhijo
Vir: Pokrajinski arhiv v Novi Gorici (PANG)

Leta 1508 je Beneška republika uspela zavzeti grad – a le za nekaj mesecev. V spomin na to kratkotrajno obdobje je na grajskih vratih še danes beneški lev sv. Marka, ki pa je bil tja postavljen šele leta 1919, po prvi svetovni vojni, ko je Gorica pripadla Italiji. Med prvo svetovno vojno je bil grad močno poškodovan.

~ 1915 - Med soško fronto je bil grad skoraj uničen.
Vir: Archivio Fototeca A. Morassi, Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali, Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia, Serie Miscellanea, 2."Venezia Giulia", n. inv. V 2210

Obnovitvena dela so potekala med letoma 1934 in 1937. Ta dela so grad spremenila iz srednjeevropske utrdbe v srednjeveški grad po italijanskem stilu. Tudi srednjeveška cerkvica Svetega Duha, ki stoji pred gradom, je med to prenovo izgubila svoj gotski slog.

~ 1946 - Po drugi svetovni vojni je ameriška zastava plapolala nad gradom, saj je bila Gorica pod anglo-ameriško upravo vse do podpisa mirovne pogodbe v Parizu leta 1947. 
Vir: Amodeo, Fabio, Sandro Scandolara. Gorizia Grado Monfalcone, una storia per immagini. Volume 3. Trieste: Editoriale FVG, 2005. (La Biblioteca del Piccolo).

ENG

On the hill that rises above the town and offers a magnificent view of the surrounding area stands the Castle of Gorizia – the heart of the oldest part of the city. It was after this hill, once covered in grapevines, that the settlement got its name. The first written mention of the settlement dates back to the year 1001, when Emperor Otto III of the Holy Roman Empire granted the land to the Patriarch of Aquileia. The document reads: Villa quae Sclavorum lingua vocatur Goriza, meaning that the settlement is called Gorica (“small hill”) in the language of the Slavs.

The Counts of Gorizia are first mentioned in 1125. They later established their main residence near Lienz in Tyrol, where a castle resembling the original form of the Gorizia castle still stands today. This German noble family became one of the most powerful in the region and ruled over the County of Gorizia, which at the time stretched from Tyrol to Istria, until the year 1500, when the line became extinct with the death of the last count, Leonhard.

The castle, built in the 11th century, was remodelled several times over the centuries. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was converted into a military barracks and prison. New defensive walls were constructed, with the participation of the famous astronomer and mathematician Edmond Halley – the discoverer of Halley’s Comet.

In 1508, the Republic of Venice succeeded in capturing the castle – but only for a few months. As a reminder of this brief episode, the Venetian lion of Saint Mark still adorns the castle gate today, although it was only placed there in 1919, after the First World War, when Gorizia became part of Italy.

During the First World War, the castle was heavily damaged. Restoration works took place between 1934 and 1937 and transformed the structure from a Central European fortress into a medieval-style castle in the Italian tradition. The small medieval Church of the Holy Spirit, located in front of the castle, also lost its Gothic character during this renovation.