Stage 9 IT

Nova Gorica–Brestovec–San Martino del Carso/Martinščina

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The stage between Nova Gorica, Gorizia/Gorica and San Martino del Carso/Martinščina is the start of a journey into the history of the great battles of the Isonzo Front from 1915 through 1916. The memory of the conflicts is present everywhere here, even in the karst rock which was masterfully described in its tragic beauty by Giuseppe Ungaretti.
The stage can be divided into two parts. At the beginning, the path runs across a completely flat land and along ordinary roads. Despite the continuous pavement, pay attention to traffic! Leave Gorizia behind and walk along the beautiful tree-lined avenue Corso Italia and then continue towards Sant’Andrea/Štandrež and Savogna d’Isonzo/Sovodnje ob Soči. In the centre of the village, opposite of the municipal building, turn left to Via Dolina and continue straight along the forest path until you pass the railway through the underpass. When you turn right, you are again on an asphalt road. Since there is no pavement, pay attention to traffic! The road takes you to the bridge over the Vipacco/Vipava River and further to the Castello di Rubbia castle, which is now privately owned but is often the scene of cultural events.
Keep to the left (leave the castle entrance behind on your right) and continue along the asphalt road. You pass Gabria Inferiore/Dolenje Gabrje and Gabria Superiore/Gorenje Gabrje and then reach a fork where the CAI 71 trail begins, which is the “entrance” to the karst plateau.
The trail slightly ascends all the time and after about half-an-hour walk you come to the first houses of the village San Michele del Carso/Vrh, where a path branches to the left for the Historical Trail on Brestovec.
After a visit to the gun gallery, the CAI 74 trail leads back to the houses in the village San Michele del Carso and to the CAI 73 trail, which in a few minutes brings you to the outdoor museum Monte San Michele/Debela griža―one of the well-known places of World War I or the Isonzo Front―where the new multimedia museum, Museo Multimediale del Monte San Michele, certainly represents an added value to it.
From the outdoor museum, a slight descent follows along CAI 73 to the nearby village of San Martino del Carso/Martinščina, known in Italy thanks to the poems of the poet and soldier Giuseppe Ungaretti, and which is nowadays the seat of the “Ricordi della Grande Guerra” private museum.  This is where stage 9 IT ends.

Photos: (1) PromoTurismoFVG; (2, 3) Schirra/Giraldi, PromoTurismoFVG; (4) Marco Milani, PromoTurismoFVG; (5) Matevž Lenarčič, Aerovizija; (6) Gabriele Menis, PromoTurismoFVG

Guided Tour Programme:

Gorizia and Carso isontino – The Scene of the Great Isonzo Battles