SLO

Na območju današnjega središča Nove Gorice je od leta 1880 stalo mestno pokopališče Gorice. Raztezalo se je vse do današnjega gledališča in novogoriške občinske stavbe, z več kot 28.000 pokopanimi pa je bilo eno največjih na Goriškem. Do njega je vodila Pokopališka ulica (Via del Camposanto) z značilnim kostanjevim drevoredom. Danes se ulica imenuje Erjavčeva, po Franu Erjavcu (1834–1887), pisatelju in gimnazijskem profesorju v Gorici, ki so ga prav tu pokopali.

Rekonstrukcija Arh. Neže Kravos iz leta 2025 z uporabo originalnega projekta inž. de Claricinija iz zgodovinskega arhiva občine Gorica -ASGO, Archivio storico del Comune di Gorizia (1830-1927), busta 1390, filza 3024/3 (1879-1889), foglio n. 6: Prospetto esterno dell’ingresso principale del Nuovo cimitero di Gorizia; progetto dell’ingegnere de Claricini (s.d.)

Vir: Isonzo-Soča Giornale di frontiera / Časopis na meji

Ilovnata zemlja in pogoste poplave potoka Koren so povzročale številne težave, ki jih tudi sistem za odvajanje vode ni v celoti rešil. ​V letih 1916 in 1917 je območje prizadela soška fronta, kar je dokončno uničilo pokopališče.

 Po vojni so ga preselili na južni del mesta, proti Mirnu, na današnjo Via Trieste. Mnogi grobovi pa so ostali na starem mestu.

Razglednica, Fond Giovanni Viola

Med gradnjo Nove Gorice so jih odstranjevali kar z buldožerji, danes na pokopališče spominjajo le trije ohranjeni, a pozabljeni nagrobniki v bližini novogoriške avtobusne postaje.

Vir: Isonzo-Soča Giornale di frontiera / Časopis na meji

Pariška mirovna pogodba leta 1947 je grobo zarezala v ta stoletja enoten političen, gospodarski in kulturni prostor. Mesto Gorica pripadlo Italiji, toda ostalo je brez slovenskega zaledja, zaledje pa brez svojega upravnega središča. Nastala je potreba po novem mestu na jugoslovanski strani meje. Med možnimi lokacijami je bila sprva omenjena Ajdovščina, a je dokončno prevladala politična odločitev za gradnjo povsem novega mesta na ravnici južno od Solkana – prav tam, kjer je nekoč stalo goriško mestno pokopališče.

Zasnovo Nove Gorice je prevzel arhitekt Edvard Ravnikar. V duhu Le Corbusierovega modernizma jo je zasnoval kot socialistično mesto v mediteranskem parku, brez izrazitega središča, z glavno mestno osjo – magistralo, ob kateri je predvidel dvojni drevored platan, ki pa ni bil nikoli posajen.

Začetek gradnje novega mesta so prevzele Mladinske in Delavske brigade, toda po prekinitvi odnosov med Jugoslavijo in Sovjetsko zvezo je začel upadati ideološki in simbolni pomen za izgradnjo Nove Gorice. Z letom 1952 so se republiške dotacije ustavile, projekt pa je prevzelo ljubljansko Ministrstvo za gradnje, nato okraj Ajdovščina. Zaradi pomanjkanja strokovnega vodenja, neusklajenosti in pogostih kadrovskih menjav se je prvotni Ravnikarjev koncept mesta začel izgubljati.

Nova Gorica je tako nastajala v senci velikih načrtov, a tudi v ritmu vsakdana – kot prostor novih začetkov, pozabljene preteklosti in oblikovanja skupnosti na pogorišču zgodovine.

 

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From 1880 onwards, the site of today’s Nova Gorica city centre was home to Gorizia’s municipal cemetery. It extended all the way to what is now the theatre and the Nova Gorica municipal building, and with over 28,000 burials, it was one of the largest cemeteries in the Gorizia region. It was accessed via Via del Camposanto (Cemetery Street), lined with a distinctive avenue of chestnut trees. Today, the street is called Erjavčeva, named after Fran Erjavec (1834–1887), a writer and secondary school teacher in Gorizia, who was buried here. 

The clay soil and frequent flooding of the Corno/Koren Stream caused numerous problems, which even the drainage system could not fully resolve. In 1916 and 1917, the area was struck by the Isonzo Front, which led to the complete destruction of the cemetery.  After the war, it was relocated to the southern part of the city, towards Miren, on what is now Via Trieste. However, many graves remained at the original site. During the construction of Nova Gorica, the graves were cleared with bulldozers, and today, the only trace of the former cemetery is three preserved – yet long-forgotten – tombstones near the Nova Gorica bus station.

The 1947 Paris Peace Treaty brutally divided what had for centuries been a unified political, economic, and cultural space. The city of Gorizia was assigned to Italy, but it lost its Slovene hinterland – and the hinterland, in turn, lost its administrative centre. This created the need for a new town on the Yugoslav side of the border. Among the possible locations initially considered was Ajdovščina, but a political decision ultimately prevailed: to build an entirely new town on the plain south of Solkan – precisely where Gorizia’s municipal cemetery had once stood.

The design of Nova Gorica was undertaken by architect Edvard Ravnikar. Inspired by Le Corbusier’s modernism, he envisioned it as a socialist city within a Mediterranean park – without a clearly defined centre, and structured around a main urban axis, the magistrala. Along this central boulevard, he planned a double row of plane trees – though they were never planted.

The construction of the new town was initially led by Youth and Workers’ Brigades. However, after the break in relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, the ideological and symbolic significance of building Nova Gorica began to fade. In 1952, republic-level funding was cut, and the project was taken over first by the Ministry of Construction in Ljubljana, then by the Ajdovščina district authority. Due to a lack of professional oversight, poor coordination, and frequent personnel changes, Ravnikar’s original concept for the city gradually began to erode.

Nova Gorica thus emerged in the shadow of grand plans, but also in the rhythm of everyday life – as a place of new beginnings, forgotten histories, and the forging of community on the ruins of the past.