Stage 9 SI of the Walk of Peace from the Alps to the Adriatic trail starts on the common square of the Slovene Nova Gorica and Italian Gorizia/Gorica (Trg Evrope/Piazza della Transalpina) and concludes in the Kras village of Lokvica. You start your journey on a cycle route, through the tunnel under the Franciscan Monastery Kostanjevica and onwards to the town of Šempeter pri Gorici. Cross the main square, past a private collection, titled Šempeter and its Surroundings during the Great War, located in the post office building in the direction of Vrtojba. Immediately after the highway overpass you turn left for the hamlet of Laze. A dirt road brings you to a large parking area, a starting point of a marked trim trail, that also serves as a rest area for motorhomes. Following a forest path, you climb up to the top of St. Ot hill (112 m), with a monument dedicated to the events that happened here in the 20th century. You can also follow the forest learning trail. The trail then takes you along the ridges and to the village of Bukovica. After you have passed the church and the local administrative building you turn onto a field path that brings you to the banks of the Vipava river. The road crosses the river in the village of Renče, which represented the rear area of the Isonzo Front. There was also a military hospital set up in the village. You can have a look into the military sanitation organisation in the tiny museum Renče 1914–1918, in the old chapel of rest at the cemetery Renče – Lukežiči. There are two other preserved military cemeteries in the vicinity (Renče – Žigoni, Oševljek). From Renče the Walk of Peace trail starts to climb up to Kras Region. Above the village of Vinišče there is a new outdoor museum that depicts the organisation of the military defences on this part of the front line. The climb up to the Kras Region takes you past the TITO sign on the northern slope of Fajtji hrib Hill (434 m). When you reach the Kras Edge the path leads you to the Monument of Peace Cerje (343 m), where there is also The Walk of Peace Visitor Centre. The Monument of Peace is the entrance point to this part of the Kras Region. After about two kilometres you reach Lokvica, the finishing point of this stage.
Park of Peace Cerje – Retracing the Footsteps of a WW1 Soldier
Kras – Underground Secrets of Caves
Monument of Peace Cerje – The Treasury of History and Art
A Guided Hiking Tour along the Walk of Peace
There were at least twelve Italian cemeteries in the area of Vrtojba after World War I. Up to the year 1928 all the remains of Italian soldiers were moved from three cemeteries to the main cemetery in Vrtojba. After the completion of the charnel house of Oslavia/Oslavje, the remains were brought there and the locals used their tombstones as building material. On the trim track under St. Ot there is the wall of Italian tombstones, built out of more than a thousand tombstones.
Not far away, by the village of Bukovica, there is a World War I military cemetery, a resting place for 282 Austro-Hungarian soldiers.
Public transport:
Railway Connections:
Jesenice–Most na Soči–Nova Gorica
Bus Services:
Tolmin–Nova Gorica
Nova Gorica–Lokvica
City-bus Services in Nova Gorica
Parking (start and end point of the stage):
Start: parking area next to the Nova Gorica Railway Station, Trg Evrope/Piazza della Transalpina Square
End: parking area in Lokvica (45.861679, 13.606543)
Center za obiskovalce Pot miru, Pomnik miru Cerje
(The Walk of Peace Visitor Centre, Monument of Peace Cerje)
Lokvica 35
SI–5291 Miren
+386 31 310 800
info@mirenkras.si
https://www.mirenkras.si/en/
Center za obiskovalce Pot miru, Kobarid
(The Walk of Peace Visitor Centre, Kobarid)
Gregorčičeva ulica 8
SI–5222 Kobarid
+386 5 389 0167, +386 31 586 296
turizem@potmiru.si, info@thewalkofpeace.com
www.thewalkofpeace.com
TIC Nova Gorica
Kidričeva ulica 11
SI–5000 Nova Gorica
+386 5 330 46 00, +386 41 460 217
nova-gorica@vipavskadolina.si
www.vipavskadolina.si
TIC Renče – Vogrsko
Bukovica 43
SI–5293 Volčja Draga
+386 41 490 227
rence-vogrsko@vipavskadolina.si
www.vipavskadolina.si